


Bit By Bit, We Start Dreaming Again

by ourescent



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: ! - Freeform, - a lot of them, Action/Adventure, Ambiguous Relationships, Both real universe and AU, Character Study, Despite this it is not full on crack I swear, Dragon Ball Universe, Fantasy, Fluff and Crack, Light Angst, Multi, No real pairing because romance is really not included as a genre, OT12 (EXO), Other, The focus is on OT12 dynamics, This is just a light-hearted take on the demise of OT12 and its aftermath, What is a team and what is not, and none of the main DB characters are actually used, and the spirit of adventure, crossover but not really, this said the relationships do play a very important role
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 73,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23483836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ourescent/pseuds/ourescent
Summary: Launched into the seventh universe after an incongruous plane crash, the EXO-K sub-unit is left with but one option if they wish to go home: gather the Dragon Balls and ask the dragon Shenron to send them back. With three wishes to boot, however, Junmyeon has more ideas in mind than a simple trip home. No one can stop him from altering the fate of his group members' dwindling numbers if he puts his mind to it. No one, not even Yifan himself.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O & Kim Jongin | Kai, Do Kyungsoo | D.O & Kim Junmyeon | Suho, Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao & Oh Sehun, Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao & Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Kim Junmyeon | Suho & Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Kim Minseok | Xiumin & Lu Han, Lu Han & Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Wu Yi Fan | Kris & Zhang Yi Xing | Lay
Comments: 33
Kudos: 19





	1. On the mountain road to nowhere

**Author's Note:**

> I first started this fic when DBZ made a very sudden return as Dragon Ball Super in 2015. At the time, I remember, I found myself making one damn deep trip down memory lane. One thing I've always liked about DBZ as a kid is that it does not have an ounce of negativity whatsoever. It is in fact an overflowing barrel of optimism - which is absolutely great for kids! The show(s) took the simplicity of its plot in stride and found it alright to shamelessly flip the switch between silly humor and serious moments. It was bright and hilarious as a whole, and without any drama, did a brilliant job of telling kids to keep up hope when things went south. 
> 
> So, I found that I was still heavily fond of this universe in spite of the many, many years since DBZ ended aaaand I went ahead with this fic. It is not meant to be a Crossover Fic, so I do refrain from using or referring to any of the main characters from the DB series. But I am borrowing this loveable universe and its mood for a bit, to make a light-hearted and optimistic take on OT12's fall and the things that have ensued from it. 
> 
> It's been a long time since 2014 and I don't expect many people to read this story. But if you do, thanks, and hope you enjoy the ride.
> 
> PS: For plot purposes, a lot of OCs are used for this little adventure, but absolutely none are shoved romantically between the boys. None. Also, the Plot really has nothing to do with any of the main arcs in the DB series, and the premises of DBZ are so simple that anyone could read this, really.  
> All you need is to be in a mood for silly adventures.

** Bit by bit ; we start dreaming again **

**_1._ **

**_On the mountain road to nowhere_ **

When the first tremors took over and the entire plane dimmed down for emergency procedures, Junmyeon had been convinced that all six of them would die. EXO-K was a goner. The company was going to have to make do with just Lay, Chen and Xiumin as the final line-up for the group because he and the rest of his sub-unit were going to bite the dust and leave nothing behind them but a butt load of disappointment.

He remembered Sehun grabbing onto his arm for dear life as their oxygen masks fell and Chanyeol began to yell. He remembered the private jet –the one day they were allowed the luxury of a ride on a private jet, for Christ’s sake – starting to spin and fly out of control until the windows turned white, and their screams seemed to dissolve into endless storm clouds.

He opened his eyes to a waning sunlight from above, scattered pink clouds, as well as Baekhyun’s worried, wet face looming over him.

“Hey, hyung, are you alright?”

Junmyeon contemplated the question, realised he was perhaps still alive, and finally sat up on what appeared to be a verdant grass shore. As he did, he heard the sound of Kyungsoo crawling out of water with a curse seeping through every step…

“Oh my God…” Junmyeon spluttered, “We… we’re not dead? We’re…”

“Not dead, no,” Sehun confirmed as he stood up, waterlogged clothes instantly discharging a torrent of water onto him. “But would I like a change of clothes? Yes.”

“W-where are we?”

“Some kind of lake, apparently,” Chanyeol noted as he dragged a coughing Jongin out of the waters. “The plane crashed in the middle of some bloody lake in the mountains.”

Junmyeon shook his sopping sleeves. They had survived a plane crash. A plane crash. This had to be a very weird dream – had they really left the airport at all?

“There’s a car road, there,” Baekhyun sploshed onto the lakeside with his shirt a squelching mess. He pushed his soaked bangs out of his eyes, “and a road sign…leading to Satan City.”

“What kind of fucked up country names their town ‘Satan City’…” Kyungsoo began to swear. But Jongin jolted at once: 

“Sa… Satan City?”

Junmyeon craned his neck to look at him, who had turned vaguely green.

“Have you already been there?” he asked.

Jongin stared back like he was spitting utter gibberish. On any normal day, Junmyeon would have found it quite vexing.

“As far as I know, Satan City is entirely fictional,” the younger man eventually remarked with a brief shudder.

“Huh?”

“There’s another placard pointing the direction to East City,” Baekhyun pulled himself up the grassy hill to watch the signs from closer, “and the opposite pointing for West…ha ha. East and West City. They’re really not making their lives very complicated here.”

“Satan City and West City…” Jongin let out a weak little laugh, “this has got to be a joke.”

“It makes no sense,” Chanyeol butted in with a perplexed frown, “When the plane crashed, we’d taken off for… what, four hours? If anything, we should have been flying over the Pacific – we were too far north to be heading for Hawaii, and there can’t be many islands with three fully fledged _cities_ in the middle of-”

“Fuck,” Jongin glanced at the mountains around them, as if verifying something that only his eyes could see.

The others scowled at him.

“What?”

“No, um…” he paused, “I’m just thinking…these mountains…don’t they look strangely… _round_?”

“Hey! You, over there,” a woman’s voice called out from over the hillside, “Do you need help?”

The six stranded idols gazed up in the direction of the voice. A smiling woman with a dishevelled chignon had already come out of her van on the side of the road, and was peering down at them curiously.

“I saw smoke coming out of the lake,” she said, using her hand as a bullhorn.

“Is she from around here?” Kyungsoo groused, wiping his forehead as she started the small trek down the hill.

“Dunno.”

Chanyeol waited for her to tumble down to their level before speaking, but as the lady raised her eyes to look at him, her expression unexpectedly faltered to white terror. Chanyeol opened his mouth when she lifted a shaky hand and gaped.

“Uh…hi,” he said, “so we had a really odd plane crash just now, and our entire cabin crew disappear-”

“G-g-g-gra…” she yelled, pointing at Chanyeol, “Grandpa!”

The others instantly froze, mitigated between bewilderment and sheer outrage.

“Grandpa?” Jongin and Baekhyun shouted first.

“I’m sorry, _what_?” Chanyeol balked.

“Oh my God, grandpa,” the woman with the messy brown hair now gloated with watery eyes, “it’s you, it’s really you – I can’t believe it…!”

“You’re a grandfather?” Sehun asked him uncertainly, and the elder man instantly shook his head:

“I am not even a dad!”

“But it _is_ you! Grandpa, look,” she swiftly pulled out a wallet from her jacket’s pocket and dug out an old picture from it, which she shoved under their noses. “See? This is you when you were young, working in a bank in East City. Don’t you remember? Grandma bought you this tie herself.”

Chanyeol emitted a strangled sound of disbelief. The young man with short hair, large ears and an oversized grey suit on the picture, looked indeed like his exact twin. Sehun immediately burst into hysterical laughter, and earned himself a backhanded slap on the forehead.

“This is ridiculous,” Chanyeol yelled, “I’ve never even worked in a bank!”

“And this is you on your eighty-sixth birthday, five years ago, before you died of a heart attack,” the woman showed them another photograph, while Sehun began to wheeze quietly into his hands, “I know you said not to cry for you, grandpa, but you know Cleo and I actually missed you a lot since then?”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” Chanyeol hammered like a machine gun, both hands raised irately in the air, “I am _not_ your grandfather. I am not anyone’s grandfather, okay? This is just a doppelganger. My doppelganger. But that doesn’t mean we’re related.”

“But he looks like your clone,” Sehun chortled into his fist. “You think this is really a coincidence? What if we time-travelled when our plane went through that weird ass cloud in the storm and this is the future?”

“Time-travelled?” the woman blinked.

“Listen, guys, there are actually more important things than that,” Jongin stammered while pushing towards the woman’s side, “we need to know _where_ on the world map we are exactly, at the moment. Can you tell us? What’s this place called?”

“You don’t know?” she tilted her head, “this is the region surrounding Mount Paozu, in the East District. From here, if you drive in that direction, you could reach Satan City in about-”

“Hold on a second, please,” Chanyeol lifted one hand to stop her, “Mount Paozu? Are we in China now, or the Pacific?”

“Huh?” she laughed good-naturedly, “what are you talking about; you guys visibly aren’t from here …Did you come from another planet?”

“Another _planet_?” Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo simultaneously said incredulously.

“Oh God,” Jongin slapped two hands over his cheeks, looking like he wanted to cry, “shit, shit, shit, I think I know for sure, now…”

But suddenly, a wailing sound sprang out of the van stationed by the roadside, and the strange woman panicked.

“Oh, no, the baby,” she smacked her brow, then turned towards them in apology, “guys, do you mind if we continue our conversation in the car? I was on my way home from the groceries with the baby...and um, if you want, you can all come over for dinner.”

“F-for dinner?”

“Yeah, of course.” she smiled, “Maybe you can tell me your story then, and I can try to help you guys out.”

“Uuuhh, that would be very kind of you…” Junmyeon blinked uncertainly, before nodding at the others. “It’s not like we have anywhere else to go…right?”

“Well, then, let’s hurry up,” she beamed and trotted up the hill. “Come with me. You can tell me everything about you guys on the road.”

The landscape unrolling past the van’s windows looked like something one would find on an old Chinese painting. The mountains were all soft edges and green rotund shapes. The clouds remained scarce. Junmyeon sat on the passenger seat, with the one-year old baby on his lap glaring unnervingly at him with brooding eyes. He gulped. The infant looked upsettingly like a miniature version of Kyungsoo.

“He looks like Kyungsoo hyung,” Sehun finally voiced out loud from the row behind.

“Nonsense,” Kyungsoo snapped in return. The mother grinned:

“They do look like each other. It’s strange, isn’t it? First, grandpa Data becomes young, and now an adult Riv…”

“I really don’t think I am your grandfather,” Chanyeol inserted uneasily.

“I think it’s become obvious we’re not from this place,” Junmyeon sat up, pointing at the boys at the back of the van, “this person here is not called Data, but Chanyeol. And this is Kyungsoo. My name is Junmyeon. Then, we have Baekhyun, Jongin, and Sehun.”

“That’s a lot of curious names to remember.”

“We come from South Korea.”

“Where’s that?”

“You don’t know about South Korea?” Sehun scrunched his nose.

“No. Is that from another planet?”

“What is it with you and other planets-”

“Guys…listen. I think there is a chance…” Jongin began with sweaty hands joined together, “th-that we’ve landed in a different world altogether.”

The others turned around in incredulity. Kyungsoo’s eyebrows almost fused in irritation as he rubbed his temple.

“Don’t say anything stupid.”

“No, I mean…Mount Paozu, West City, Satan City… Don’t you see where these names come from?”

Faced with five equally blank expressions, Jongin seemed exasperated.

“What I mean, is that this is like one of those science-fiction movies where people travel from one universe to another by accident and can’t make it back. When our plane crashed through that storm cloud over the Pacific, maybe we went through some kind of trans-dimensional breach, and ended up in a different universe altogether.”

“That’s nonsense.”

“Well, it would certainly explain why you guys seem so shocked by everything,” their impromptu driver only said. Kyungsoo blinked at her.

“You don’t think that what he said is nonsense?”

“Slow down, now. What makes you think this is not some kind of secret camera prank set up by our managers?” Chanyeol scratched his chin with a cocked eyebrow, “I mean…our cabin crew didn’t end up in the lake like us, so maybe they are part of the prank. I’d certainly take that explanation over a trans-dimensional breach any day.”

“D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-” Baekhyun suddenly screamed while facing the window, “DINOSAUR.”

“ _What_?”

The rest of the group smacked their faces against the glass of the car windows, gaping simultaneously as they caught sight of the humongous creature making its way unhurriedly through the trees. Riv’s mother only glanced at the walking purple relic and waved a hand dismissively at it:

“Oh, Mount Paozu is known for having lots of dinosaurs hanging around. Don’t worry, they are usually harmless and leave the human villages alone.”

“You… you’ve got ‘lots of _dinosaurs_ hanging around’…?” Baekhyun laughed weakly, “ha ha…w-what kind of universe is this?”

“Oh…” Junmyeon gasped, face turning white as the baby protested in his arms, “oh of course, I remember! This kind of scenery, how could I not notice it before; I-”

“Right?” Jongin looked up at him falteringly, “everyone’s read it. I mean, I don’t see what else this could be.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Kyungsoo grunted. But Junmyeon was already leaning towards their driver with apprehension:

“Have you,” he started in a conspicuous whisper, “ever heard about these things called the Dragon Balls?”

The woman turned towards him interestedly before facing the road once again.

“The Dragon Balls?” she seemed sincerely taken aback. “No, can’t say I’ve heard of it.”

“Ah really?” the group leader drew back again. “That’s strange.”

“But you said West City was over there,” Jongin pointed at the horizon behind them, as he strained his neck to meet her gaze in the rear-view mirror. “So does that mean Capsule Corporation would be in that direction too?”

“Capsule Corp, the company?” she brightened immediately, “yes, of course! You’re completely right. My wife works there, actually. But since West City is so far, she can only make it back home on the weekends, because of it.”

“You have a wife?” Sehun leaned over Junmyeon’s chair to blink curiously at her.

“Yes, her name is Cleo. You will meet her tonight actually, since it’s Friday,” their benefactor beamed.

Sehun nodded and seemed pensive all of a sudden.

“This is an open-minded place, then,” he mused out loud.

Baekhyun leaned forward on his seat.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“Me?” she smiled, “Oh, I’m sorry, I should have said it earlier. I am Piggy.”

“And your last name is…uh?”

“Bank.”

“Piggy Bank,” Baekhyun laughed powerlessly, “alright.”

“And your wife is called Cleo.” Sehun sniffled, arms hanging limply over Junmyeon’s headrest, “so, is her last name Patra?”

“Sehun, that’s just rude.”

“Actually, her last name is Mepilosa,” Piggy clarified gladly. 

“I really don’t see the logic anymore.”

“So you guys came from another universe, huh,” she drew a cheerful breath of wonder, “that is amazing. How is it like, over there?”

“It’s…different?” Junmyeon tried, glancing at the back of the car for approval while the baby opted to start climbing his head, “less technologically advanced, I suppose. I mean, from my memory, we don’t have flying cars,” he peeked at the floating vehicle on the road next to them, which momentarily lagged behind them before taking them over, “but at least we don’t have dinosaurs.”

“Talking about home,” Sehun faltered, “how are we going to tell Minseok hyung, Yixing hyung and Jongdae hyung about what happened to us? They’ll think we kicked the bucket.”

“ _Everyone_ will think we kicked the bucket. Our _parents_ will think we kicked the bucket.”

“Yes, but…”

Piggy glanced curiously at them: “Are those people friends of yours?”

“Well, actually, we work together back home,” Junmyeon said despondently, “and…”

“And they are going to be worried that you guys are gone, of course. You guys should make it back as soon as possible, then.”

“That’d be nice. If we knew the way…” Baekhyun heaved a dramatic sigh as he looked at the sun and its last splinters of red over the horizon. But Jongin spoke up firmly this time:

“We do know the way. Think about it. If we’ve _really_ landed where the Dragon Balls are, then we just need to find a way to gather all of them, invoke the dragon Shenron, and ask him to send us back to our own universe with the first wish.” 

Junmyeon jerked up instantly, while the four others stared at Jongin in utter bafflement. He turned around when Chanyeol finally yelped:

“Of course. In this world, the Dragon Balls are a real thing! So if we manage to find all seven of them…”

“We can have our wish granted and go back home!” Sehun exulted.

“We could have three wishes, actually,” Jongin added with a bashful grin. “That’s how it works.”

“Well, isn’t that great,” Piggy smiled brightly into the rear-view mirror, “Now you have something to look forward to.”

Junmyeon considered it in silence while the others exploded into brand new cheers.

“For the second wish,” Chanyeol declared from somewhere behind him, “we should ask him to give us a six months long paid holiday.”

“That’s just sad.”

“Can Shenron realise wishes in another universe to start with?” Sehun snorted.

But the sounds of their animated chatter was already blurred in Junmyeon’s mind, drowning and dissolving through the muffled beating of his heart. In _his_ mind, there was a dim hum, a sly little whisper prodding the more bitter part of his soul, and asking him to use the second wish for a completely different reason. It poked him with the edge of a fading picture too – the faint shadow of twelve people standing in line with their backs to the stage, and a sensation of completeness – selfish, yes. But at least, unblemished. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have many songs from the OST that I would like to rec, if you are like me and sometimes just want to put yourself in the 'I am 10 years old and ready to fly' mood. The first one is "Makafushigi Adventure - Instrumental Version".
> 
> Hope you enjoy.


	2. A powerful baby and the San Xing Qiu

_**2.** _

_**A powerful baby and the San Xing Qiu** _

“Until further news are found,” their manager sighed, “no more schedules for the three of you. Try to avoid the press.”

And with that, the disaster became official. Yixing closed the door to the dorm as their manager left, and released a bottomless sigh. On the floor of the living, Jongdae sat in the lotus position, arms propped behind him.

“So?”

“So…no more activities for us until further notice,” Yixing dragged out, wondering how to phrase the rest. “I guess it wouldn’t do to have us dance and sing when all our remaining bandmates are…um…well…”

“Dead.”

“Dead, ouh – that’s a little harsh...”

“How else do you want me to phrase it?” Jongdae grimaced, “They just bit the dust, didn’t they?”

Yixing bit on his lower lip, unwilling to agree.

“Do you really think so?” Minseok raised dubious eyes from his spot on the sofa. He scratched his left foot and scowled with a hint of scepticism: “I thought they said they didn’t find the plane.”

“…yet.”

Minseok’s frown deepened, while Yixing took a slow breath: “A small aircraft like that disappearing over the Pacific? There really isn’t much of a chance for them to be alive, I think…”

There was a momentary silence at those ominous words. Then, Jongdae let out a discouraged whine as he fell over onto his back. Yixing watched him curl up into a ball on the floorboards, feeling guilty for not being able to do anything, for not being able to say that it was all just a bad dream and that they were going to wake up soon. He had no idea what to do.

With a weak nod at Minseok, he said:

“I…um…I’ll be in my room for a second,” he murmured.

“You need a shoulder?”

“Mmno. I just need about five hundred rabbits to hug,” Yixing contemplated the thought, and though Minseok let out a soft huff, he continued, “that, and a hot chocolate with a smidgeon of cinnamon would be nice.”

“I can make you the hot chocolate,” Jongdae hopped onto his feet, gauchely making his way towards the kitchen.

Yixing smiled gently.

“Thanks a lot, Jongdae.”

“See you in five, hyung.”

The Chinese member retreated into his room, and as soon as he closed the door, the pretence fell, menacing to trigger a wave of ugly sobbing that would have ruined his last bit of self-control. _Come on, Yixing_. he squeezed his eyes shut. _Don’t cry in front of the others. Think of rabbits_. Despite his best efforts, a tear or two did squeeze their way out all the same, and… well, that was probably due to a brand-new allergy to dust, damn it.

Yixing slid against the door and sat down on the cold, wooden flooring.

They’d never gotten along on the best of terms. There were misunderstandings, and differing tastes in the group, and these days, with the creation of his own studio, Yixing had begun to think that, perhaps, he had found a different path. But they had grown up together; shared pains and victories in a way that Yixing had never done with even his closest friends. EXO-K had suffered, just like him, to get to where they were – and now it had all been wiped out for them, with just one plane crash? How unfair was that?

A mobile alert in his back pocket, and he sluggishly dragged the phone out, flicking to his WeChat messages. The sender’s name, however, punched him right in the stomach.

“Lu Han,” the name sounded comforting on his tongue, as his eyes travelled across the cautious words of consolation. The news had reached China. The elder man seemed wobbly, as if taken off-guard, like the tragedy had not quite become a reality yet. Yixing could almost imagine the disarray in Lu Han’s eyes as he typed this, and it made his heart ache to do so.

Within minutes, the mobile bleeped again. This time, the message had tears and shock and disbelief in it. It shouted about the accident with the force of a roaring volcano. It threw a temper; chucked the blame on nobody in particular, while sounding like it did on everyone, including Yixing, just by virtue of him reading it. Yixing had missed this candid ability to sound vicious without even meaning to.

Tao had always been too immature with his words. 

_Two down, one to go_ , Yixing thought grimly, as he read Tao’s message again.

He sat up and tried to keep his mind off the sadness, but the grief wouldn’t let go. The more he tried to avoid the thoughts, the more the room, the furniture, the phone in his hand reminded him of the past. _I’ll stay here for a week_ , he thought feebly to himself, _I’ll stay for a week, and then I’ll go_ _back to China to empty my mind and work again_.

A moment later, the third alert came.

Yixing glanced at it, bit on his lower lip, and cursed himself because even as he tried to fill his head with huge, fluffy white rabbits, the cascade of tears would just not stop falling.

*****

“Where’s the baby?” Baekhyun sang with both hands over his face, “where’s the baby? There is the baby!!”

Facing him in the garden of the little cottage, Chanyeol was the only one who laughed his head off, holding a sullen Riv in his arms. Junmyeon would have liked to find the scene endearing, really, but he was starting to doubt whether Chanyeol, at twenty-three years old, possessed the notion of object permanence.

He watched them from the kitchen window, while the rest of their group helped Piggy with dishwashing.

“Where is the baby?” Baekhyun started to sing again while scooting closer, “where is the baby? There is-”

The infant’s fist smacked him in the face, and he fell over with a groan of pain.

“Does your wife – uh, Cleo, always come back so late on Friday evenings?” Junmyeon asked as he passed Piggy a newly soaped plate.

She took it with an easy nod: “Oh yes. West City is very far from here, you know. It takes her almost five hours to fly from Capsule Corp to Mount Paozu, and that’s already with the fastest private jet that the company could give her!”

“Pr– private jet?” Junmyeon gargled, almost dropping his bowl into the sink.

Kyungsoo looked up with interest, and Piggy acquiesced again: “Mhm. The company also revamped our spaceship for free, but… we never really use it, I mean, where would we go with a spaceship anyways?”

“A private jet and a spaceship…” Junmyeon laughed uneasily, “damn. Sh-she must be someone important.”

“Who knows,” Piggy pondered seriously for a moment, “she’s the CEO of one of the company’s subsidiaries…”

Sehun whistled appreciatively while Junmyeon returned to his washing in mortified silence.

“A spaceship, a private jet, and the CEO of a company. Damn,” Sehun sneered with an elbow nudge, “Hyung, you need to step up on your tycoon game.”

“Oh, be quiet.”

“But does Cleo know about the Dragon Balls, by any chance?” Jongin asked now, making her blink at him, “We’d really need a Dragon Radar if we want to track down the Dragon Balls, and I was wondering if she could help us get one, since she works in Capsule Corporation and all...”

“A Dragon _Radar_ , you said?” she pushed her hair up and looked entertained, “well, I don’t know. But that sounds like it _could_ be up Cleo’s alley. Technology is her thing, after all.”

“That sounds hopeful,” Jongin smiled, “so, we just have to wait until she gets back?”

“That’s right! Wait until she comes back.”

“What needs to wait until I come back?” came a soft, frosty voice outside the window.

Junmyeon turned, and let out a startled yelp when he saw the tall, blonde woman in a suit standing right outside, a hand on her hip. Her eyes toured the room fleetingly before stopping on Piggy.

“Who are these people?” she cocked an eyebrow.

“Cleo!” Piggy exclaimed happily with a grin, “right on time to meet our guests.”

“Guests?”

“Here’s Junmyeon, Jongin, Kyungsoo and Sehun. They come to us from the Earth in another universe, and are currently looking for a way back home.”

Cleo looked thoroughly unimpressed.

“The Earth in another _universe_?”

“My name is Junmyeon,” Junmyeon hurriedly extended his hand, then realised he was wearing rubber gloves and swiftly pulled them off. “T-the six of us accidentally crashed into your universe while we were flying over an ocean, and …”

“The two others were playing with Riv outside,” Piggy clarified.

“You didn’t put Riv to bed?” Cleo sighed, “Piggy, it’s going to mess with his sleep cycle.”

“Uh, I am really sorry,” Jongin raised one finger tentatively, and the scientist turned to glance at him. “It’s just…um, Piggy told us you were working at Capsule Corporation, Cleo, and...uh-”

She gazed at him with her arms folded.

“And?”

“And…we were wondering, well…”

She waited, looking utterly immovable.

“W-we were wondering……”

“Well, if it’s going to take that long,” Cleo exhaled and headed into the house without more, “maybe we can talk about it later.”

Jongin was left hanging, a hesitant look still on his face.

“Ah?”

Sehun gave him a reprimanding smack, making him squeak, and Piggy blinked at her:

“Cleo, you don’t want to eat something?”

“No, I’m exhausted and going straight to bed,” she replied with a yawn. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“But the Dragon…”

She slammed the door of the sleeping quarters behind her, and Junmyeon's shoulders fell, gutting disappointment settling in him. He turned to Jongin who threw his hands helplessly in the air: “She was scary!”

Piggy offered them an apologetic look: “Sorry! Cleo is a bit shy with first-time guests, you see… and it’s been a long trip home. She’ll be in a better mood tomorrow.”

“Right. Of course.”

“…And what if she isn’t?” Sehun scratched his ear.

Good question. If they explained everything to Cleo and she was unable to, or refused to help them – if they asked Piggy herself to take them to Capsule Corporation, and if no one else there was willing to help either… Junmyeon wondered how many other alternatives they would have.

If they did not get a Dragon Radar, in the worst-case scenario, could they still stand a chance at finding the Dragon Balls, to begin with?

“You should get some rest,” Piggy commented whilst gesturing through the window to call Chanyeol and Baekhyun back, “it’s been a long day for you guys too. Let’s set up your beds!”

The next morning, however, Junmyeon was still tormented. He turned again and again on the inflatable mattress that Piggy had given them, and when the sun came up at last, he stopped, coming face to face with Kyungsoo’s stern eyes on the mattress next to his.

“In the worst case, we could bargain,” the other man said without so much as an introduction.

And Junmyeon had to blink groggily, unwilling to admit that he had almost had a heart attack.

“…What?”

“I mean…to convince Cleo. Or anyone else at Capsule Corporation if necessary, about making a Dragon Radar for us,” Kyungsoo continued quietly, “I’m thinking we could use the second and third wishes to bargain – by telling them that, if they can give us a Dragon Radar, they can use the second and third wishes so long as we get the first.”

Junmyeon continued to stare at him in utter silence, holding his covers close as Sehun’s snores rumbled a few metres away. His heart had begun to caper at the words ‘second and third wishes’, a progressively familiar shadow of guilt consuming him, and soon, Kyungsoo seemed to notice the distant look in his eyes. He cocked an eyebrow at him, losing patience: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said, but his cheeks were flushing red. “I mean…I guess that’s an idea.”

Kyungsoo observed him seriously, as if suspecting something but unable to pinpoint the exact source of the problem.

“You would want us to keep the second and third wishes for something specific?”

“Well, no, but I mean, I guess there could simply be many opportunities,” he trailed off.

“Like what?”

Before he could speak, a huge explosion resounded outside the house, and they jumped out of bed. Sehun fell off the couch and sat up, his hair a mess:

“Wat’z noi’s…?”

Junmyeon and Kyungsoo rushed into the living room with the open kitchen, where Piggy now stood in front of the window, laughing into her hand. The front door ajar, Cleo smoked in the doorframe, smirking, and Baekhyun and Chanyeol were running in the garden with Riv again, but this time, looking utterly terrified:

“P-P-P-Piggy, your child just pounded a rock three times his size into dust!” Baekhyun yelled, while Chanyeol looked like he had seen a ghost.

“Why are you two already awake?” Junmyeon wondered instead, but Piggy simply chuckled, taking the grouchy, babbling Riv into her arms:

“Oh, that’s normal,” she reassured, and Baekhyun exchanged a mystified look with Chanyeol.

“It’s, um…normal? How?”

“Because,” Cleo interrupted and returned into the living room, “Riv is a child conceived using Piggy’s and a male donor’s genes. And Piggy’s genes are not human.”

From the adjacent guest room, Sehun finally stumbled out, yawning and scratching his belly, while she continued to explain: “Piggy and her late grandfather are inhabitants of the planet Gleese, where people naturally develop a gift of their own as they grow up – a special mutation, of sorts. Fire-bending, water-bending…There are many other variants too, and Riv has inherited those genes, albeit a diluted version of them. So…”

“So, he has supernatural strength,” Baekhyun guessed the rest with an uneasy laugh, “is that right?”

“Yeah, I suppose. Or it could be considered earth-bending. I’m not entirely sure,” Cleo had a rictus.

She planted a small kiss on Riv’s forehead, before landing a gentle peck on Piggy’s cheeks. Junmyeon looked at the way she discarded the rest of her cigarette, the way she leisurely strolled across the room, and wondered if she seemed more relaxed, more comfortable than yesterday. Perhaps today was their chance:

“Cleo, about yesterday…”

“About yesterday,” she said at the same time, and Junmyeon stopped. “You said you guys were from the Earth from another universe.”

Kyungsoo and he exchanged a look. Thankfully, Chanyeol was eager to nod and explain:

“Yeah, that’s right. And because we heard that you worked at Capsule Corporation, we were wondering if you knew a way for us to procure ourselves a Dragon Radar – just for a few months – so we could locate the Dragon Balls to go back home.”

Junmyeon braced himself. But to his pleasant surprise, Cleo’s features cleared with a smirk of interest.

“Looking for the Dragon Balls? I see. That’s ambitious.”

“You know about them?”

“Sure, I do,” she shifted her weight from one leg to the other, “and I know about Dragon Radars, too.”

“Really?” Sehun dropped.

She took a drag and blew a ring of smoke:

“Dragon Balls emit a very slight electromagnetic pulse when they are active, and Dragon Radars are devices that can detect that pulse across the globe. It’s a very complex thing…but, as long as I’ve got one of the Dragon Balls with me as a reference, I can make you one without problem. It shouldn’t take me longer than nine days.”

“You need one of the seven as a reference?” Junmyeon’s face fell.

“You can’t make one without a reference?” Piggy tilted her head while Cleo shrugged.

“No, I don’t think I’m good enough for that. The frequency is quite difficult to fathom and calculate if I don’t have an example in front of me.”

“But that’s a huge problem,” Junmyeon smacked his hands over his cheeks.

“Why?”

“We don’t have any of the Dragon Balls with us right now!”

“That’s not a problem,” Cleo chuckled amusedly.

“It isn’t?” Baekhyun frowned, “why not?”

“Because _we_ have a Dragon Ball,” she said and grinned, “in Riv’s crib.”

Junmyeon blinked.

What?

He searched the woman’s grey eyes for ill mockery, but found nothing.

“Go get it,” she encouraged instead, “it’s in the corner of the master bedroom at the moment. You’ll find it beneath his favourite plush rabbit, I believe.”

“Wait, wait… _what_?” he repeated as Chanyeol scurried out of the kitchen. Even Piggy appeared to be surprised, leaning towards her wife: “Do we really have a Dragon Ball in our house?”

“Ah!” Chanyeol exclaimed.

A few moments later, he reappeared in the doorway, mystified, holding a glistening crystal ball with three red stars in his hand.

“F-found it,” he murmured in shock, and Baekhyun immediately launched himself into his arms with a yell of excitement, while Junmyeon ogled the Dragon Ball in boundless wonder.

“So _that_ was a Dragon Ball?” Piggy covered her mouth with one hand, “But I thought it was just a fancy stone that I picked up after a walk…”

“Mmm no, it was a Dragon Ball... But since you wanted to use it as a toy for Riv, I just left you at it,” Cleo smiled fondly. “Don’t think Riv could have done anything to break it anyways.”

“One, two, three stars…So it’s the San Xing Qiu,” Chanyeol turned happily to Kyungsoo, who, for the first time that day, smiled too. “We got one out of seven! That’s amazing!”

“So… with this, you’re going to be able to make a Dragon Radar?” Sehun enquired.

“Yes; in more or less nine days… But on one condition.” Cleo lifted her finger.

Junmyeon sobered up instantly. He braced himself, negotiating arguments at the ready, when she pointed at Kyungsoo and Chanyeol:

“I would like you two to come back with me to Capsule Corporation this week.”

The two froze, dumbfounded, and Junmyeon gawked as she elaborated:

“You said you were going to ask Shenron to take you back to another _universe_ , and that this universe also had an Earth of its own. I am very interested in this parallel universe of yours and its possible connection with our world, so if you guys don’t mind, I’d like to make my own studies about it, and I would need the two of you to come with me to Capsule Corp on Monday, to take some DNA samples...”

She paused when she saw their silence, and specified carefully:

“Nothing painful, just a few tests and scans.”

“Of course,” Junmyeon all but yelled, too relieved to hide his enthusiasm, “of course! Kyungsoo and Chanyeol will be your guinea pigs!”

“Hey,” Kyungsoo scowled at him. 

“Done deal it is,” Cleo’s grey eyes lit up again, and this time her expression was a lot gentler, “You two are Chanyeol and Kyungsoo, yes? I look forward to working with you. I hope you don’t mind syringes.”

“Great,” Chanyeol groaned.

“It’s still much better than having to sell the second and third wishes,” Junmyeon whispered to Kyungsoo, who was still glaring at him.

The younger man rolled his eyes at those words, while the guest room door creaked again, and Jongin walked out at last, still looking half-asleep.

“Good morning?” he mumbled. 

Piggy burst into happy laughter, and quickly invited them to sit down for breakfast.

*****

Upon Cleo’s sudden request, Baekhyun had ended up accompanying Chanyeol and Kyungsoo to Capsule Corporation for her desired experiments.

“I want to try something,” Cleo had enigmatically announced to the rest of them before embarking the trio with her aboard her private jet. “I’ll return them to you in nine days. See you then.”

Nine days evaporated in the blink of an eye. On Sunday next, her modest plane landed in Mount Paozu with the three bandmates aboard, unscathed and in a miraculously good mood. Along came the San Xing Qiu, as well as the requested, brand-new Dragon Radar, shaped like a fat pear, which Junmyeon received into his hands like a priceless treasure. Sehun and Jongin stuck to his side to inspect it, bemused.

Cleo expounded with a cigarette between her lips:

“You click on the button at the top, and it activates to give you a map, with a red star indicating where each Dragon Ball is situated,” she explained comfortably. “The closer you get, the louder it beeps.”

“What of the string around it?” Sehun lifted the brown thread which dangled from the detector’s head.

“…That’s just so you can wear it around your neck.”

“Oh.”

“It’s perfect,” Junmyeon declaimed in all honesty. “Thank you infinitely, Cleo.”

“That’s not all. Have these too before you leave,” the blonde woman handed them a plastic box. “I’m lending them to you.”

It opened to reveal ten numbered capsules, neatly arranged into rows of five. She now leaned over Junmyeon’s shoulder to point at them:

“These capsules contain various tools and means of transport which you can use, including a camping car, to make your travelling a little easier. If you click on one of the capsules, it will release its content in their original sizes. To start with, number four, five and six are motorbikes.”

She clicked the designated three and tossed them one after the other, letting them burst into a cloud of hazy smoke. When Junmyeon finally dared to look up again, three scramblers with dual saddles had appeared instead of the tiny capsules, and Chanyeol and Baekhyun were hollering in excitement.

“Awesome,” the younger of the two instantly rushed towards the nearest vehicle.

“To put them back into their capsules, just push the button behind the rear wheel,” Cleo finished her cigarette tranquilly.

“We’ll bring them back as soon as we are done with the Dragon Balls,” Jongin smiled bashfully, “promise.”

“Well, I certainly hope so,” Cleo snickered and stepped back to Piggy’s side, “And anyways, that’s all I can do for you for now. The rest is up to you, I suppose.”

“If you see the dragon, don’t forget the say hi to it for me,” Piggy waved cheerfully with one hand, the other still holding Riv.

“We will, definitely,” Junmyeon laughed and mounted the first motorcycle. “Goodbye, Piggy, Cleo. We definitely won’t forget what you’ve done for us.”

“Bye bye,” Baekhyun shouted as he climbed up behind Chanyeol’s back, “And bye bee to you, Riv; take care of your mothers, okay?”

The baby only let out an angry garble in return, and from his seat, Baekhyun saluted him with an air kiss. The next second, he and Chanyeol had driven off in a growling thunder of dust and smoke. Kyungsoo took the seat behind Junmyeon while Jongin and Sehun opted for the last vehicle.

Junmyeon decided to wear the Dragon Radar around his neck, as Jongin took off, causing Sehun to grab his waist with a yell of terror.

“Okay,” he grinned determinedly and put his goggles on, “let’s go.”

The scrambler swerved out of the grassy lane with a loud rumble, leaving naught but dirt in its wake.

The sun had barely woken up in the horizon. It painted the sky in red; its rays still tepid and melting the mountaintops with every inch of light produced. The colour could have easily been interpreted as a warning. But as the three motorbikes roared down the hill and sailed over the widening road, Junmyeon could see nothing but hope across the blushing skyline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song rec of the day is the opening to DBGT, a song by Field of View called "Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku" - which is in part what the title of the fic is based on.


	3. It has been a long time since

_**3.** _

_**It has been a long time since** _

Yixing was woken up by his ringtone with a violent jerk. He blindly reached out for the phone beneath his pillow and picked up without looking, his eyelids still sealed together with broken sleep.

“Yes?” he croaked in the general darkness of the dorm.

“Yixing, it’s me.”

“Who is me…?” the young man re-joined impulsively, and then his eyes cracked open with realisation, even before he heard the deep reply on the other end.

“Me is…well, me. It’s Wu Yifan.”

Yixing parted his lips, gazing vacantly at the soulless Rilakkuma toy sitting atop the bed railing, his brain still too slow to properly register everything.

“Fuck,” was all he could muster, and he heard a small huff at the other end… Yifan’s end.

“I know. I should have called more often,” the elder man lowered his tone now. “Listen, are you well?”

“No,” Yixing responded on instinct. But his mind was swiftly grappling for filters, civility and the general ability to process thoughts. He closed his eyes for a moment before shaking his head: “Uh, I’m sorry. I just woke up, Yif – W-what time is it?”

“Six in the morning. Seoul time,” Yifan sounded perfectly awake, “I am sorry for waking you up. I really needed to speak to you.”

“About what?”

“Before that, tell me. Are you at the dorms right now?”

“Uuuhh…yes,” Yixing rolled onto his stomach, glancing at the clock on the wall, before focusing on Jongdae’s snoring form on the bed next to his. Ever since the start of their forced holiday, the younger member had asked to sleep in the same room– to avoid thinking about the terrible accident at night, he said. For now, Jongdae seemed completely unaware of Yifan’s call. He remained buried in peaceful dreams.

“Okay, good,” Yifan suddenly stated. “In light of what happened, I am assuming that the rest of you don’t have a schedule anymore. But are you still active in China?”

“Do I look like I have the heart for that?” Yixing snapped a tad too dryly, and instantly regretted sounding so harsh.

Thankfully, Yifan seemed utterly unaffected by his tone.

“If you don’t have to do anything today, I wanted to see you.”

“Wh…at? I’m not in China at the moment. I said I was in Seoul”, Yixing blinked slowly.

“As am I.”

Yixing’s heart made a flip in his chest, and he sat up with all senses on alert:

“You’re…you’re in front of the dorms, right now?” he stammered.

“Wow, uh, that’s getting a little too carried away here. I am in Seoul, yes, but I’m at a hotel.”

“Oh.”

“Let’s just meet up at a café, yeah?” 

“Oh, err, right. Okay,” Yixing agreed, glad that the other man could at least not see his mortification from where he was, “where do you wanna go?”

“Do you remember where we used to drop by when I accompanied you home at night, during our trainee days?”

Yixing thought about it, then nodded decisively.

“Yes.”

“Alright, then. I’ll see you there in an hour’s time. Bye.”

*****

The café in question was a rundown shop by a street corner, south of Cheongdam-dong. At six forty-five, when Yixing arrived alone, it had not yet opened for business, but Yifan was already standing on the doorstep in his long black coat and sunglasses. The attire caused him to scrunch his nose:

“Jesus, so much for discretion,” he remarked with a meaningful nod. “how did you not get recognized on your way here?”

“It’s been a while since my schedule’s been hacked by rabid groupies, you know,” Yifan smirked. “Unlike you guys. So, did you come alone?”

“Yes, I took a taxi. Jongdae and Minseok are still sleeping at home. Why so much secrecy?”

Yifan nodded appreciatively, pushing his sunglasses onto his forehead before lifting a plastic bag in the air:

“I brought tteokbokki,” he simply stated.

“You’re not answering my question.”

“I just wanted to talk to you first…” the other man sat down on the edge of the café’s doorstep, not caring about dirtying his coat. While he struggled to open the tteokbokki bag, Yixing installed himself next to him. “After I heard the news, I was wondering how the rest of you would be faring…if you’d be very shaken up, if you’d be able to cope. I’m glad to see that you’re kind of alright.”

“Who says I am alright?” Yixing frowned gently.

“I said, _kind of_ …” Yifan specified, then handed him a rice cake on a toothpick, “here.”

“Thank you,” he replied more courteously, still watching Yifan’s every feature, as if hardly believing that the other man was here with him. “Your message...your text message, I mean. I did read it. Even though I didn’t answer.”

“I didn’t expect you to answer. I was sincerely sorry about what happened…it was just too sudden to be okay.”

“Especially for you, I think.” Yixing said softly, causing the other man to turn curious eyes at him, “because there was no closure for you. You and us, I mean. And between you and Junmyeon, especially. I don’t think he ever forgave you.”

“This is not what I am here to talk about, Yixing.”

The statement was strangely placid. It caused him to look up with furrowed eyebrows, ticked against his will.

“What do you want to talk about, then,” he puffed, “Don’t you feel sad at all for your former bandmates? I know it’s all part of the past for you, but…they are actually dead, I hope you realise.”

“I don’t think they’re dead,” the other man declared.

“You’re in denial.”

“No,” Yifan rolled his eyes. “Listen, this is going to sound extremely weird, but this is what I came here to talk to you about. I need your help for something.”

“What do you need my help for?”

“I need you to get all of Junmyeon’s dirty boxers for me.”

Yixing stared at him in barely contained revolt, and swiftly scooted a little further away from him.

“You’re a pervert in denial.”

“ _No_ ,” Yifan raised his voice, looking frustrated, “okay, look. Do you know about this old Chinese boffin called Professor Meng?”

“No. Meng, as in, _cute_?” Yixing squinted.

“Yes, but his real name is Professor Mu. He just likes to call himself Meng because he thinks it is cuter. I got to talk to him after that plane accident with Junmyeon and the others, see, and he told me a theory which I think makes a lot of sense,” Yifan took a breath, “but to test that theory, we need a lot of Junmyeon’s DNA.”

“Why Junmyeon, in particular?”

“Because it’s the only one he has at the moment. I gave him one of Junmyeon’s old underwear that got embroiled into my laundry when I left…”

“You had one of Junmyeon’s dirty underwear.”

“I was going to send it back to him since it’s Hugo Boss, but things got bitter and Professor Meng said he could use it, so…”

“You had one of Junmyeon’s dirty underwear, and you gave it to a crazy old man who calls himself Professor Cute,” Yixing inhaled sharply, “Yifan, this is crass. You are mad and this is crass.”

“Maybe, but we can’t be sure,” Yifan affirmed, narrowing his eyes now, “That old man’s theory might actually be the key to discover what happened to Junmyeon and the rest. He claimed, when he saw the accident on the news, that EXO-K’s plane probably got swallowed by an inter-dimensional breach, and ended up travelling to another universe altogether.”

Yixing stared at him with unhidden dismay. 

“That’s…” he tried hard to find the right word and ended with a sigh, “…bullshit. It’s bullshit the size of an elephant.”

“Did they ever find the plane?” Yifan squinted again, “No. No one did. Professor Meng tried to get the media to pay attention to his theory on parallel universes as soon as he heard what happened, but no one believed him. But I think it does make sense. There were no debris. The so-called accident happened when they were flying over the Pacific. A heist would make sense if there were other people on that plane, but just six inoffensive idols doing a special event? Why would anyone want to crash that?”

“Still, I get what you mean, but…another universe…” he hesitated, then exhaled despondently. “it’s too much. I’m not that gullible Yixing you knew when you left Korea two years ago, Yifan. A lot of things have happened since then. I’ve changed a lot.”

“What is your point?”

“My point is, you can’t make me believe in horse shit that is bigger than my fucking foot, Yifan.”

“This isn’t a scam,” the other man insisted, “Professor Meng isn’t looking for money. Or fame. He is looking for Junmyeon’s used undies to effectuate some tests in his laboratory that may or may not succeed in locating your bandmates.”

“And that sounds very normal to you, doesn’t it.”

“He is not doing this for selfish gains,” Yifan said pensively, “I kind of trust him. He is a friend of a friend of a friend’s mother’s friend.”

Yixing cautiously drew the connecting link in his head before shaking his head violently again.

“That just serves to prove that you have very weird friends.”

“You are my friend,” Yifan dropped flatly, then cocked an eyebrow, “are you insulting yourself?”

Yixing opened his mouth to protest, but found nothing else to say. He gradually settled down into quiet pondering, the tteokbokki growing cold on his toothpick. At last, a sigh escaped him and his shoulders fell.

“Alright, what do you want me to do?”

“Just get me all of Junmyeon’s dirty laundry from the dorm. Actually, all of the K member’s undies would do. Pass it all to me and I’ll take it back to Professor Meng.”

“ _We_ will take it,” Yixing declared solemnly before arching an eyebrow, “I am curious to meet that underwear freak myself and see what he is up to. To be honest, if it’s DNA we are talking about, why wouldn’t a toothbrush and comb do?” 

“Oh yeah... I didn’t think about that.”

“You didn’t?!”

“Well, that would be a very nice addition,” Yifan folded his arms, “in fact, if you could bring me everything you could find in the dorms…”

“Look, I am never going to be able to sneak all of that stuff out by myself. Why don’t you come to the dorms with me and take whatever you want?” he blinked, “I think Jongdae and Minseok are both going out to meet their respective friends today.”

The elder man seemed to consider the idea for a minute before eventually nodding.

“The manager?”

“Taking care of his daughter.”

“What of the coast near your dorm?”

“The stalkers are mourning too,” Yixing said pointedly.

“Aright, then.” Yifan rolled up his coat sleeves and stood up, “Let’s do this.”

*****

“The nearest Dragon Ball is located somewhere south of where we are,” Sehun said morosely, night sky spread behind him.

They had stopped in a little forest west of Mount Paozu, after driving diligently for eight or nine days. Junmyeon lost track of time when they had no schedules to refer themselves to. But since their reserves of food were limited, they settled by a river that night, and opted for a campfire rather than using their existing rations.

“Where did Baekhyun and Chanyeol go?” Jongin inquired as he returned to Junmyeon with a pile of dry twigs.

“I sent them fishing…There was a fishing rod in the camping car,” Junmyeon smiled, “Cleo and Piggy really thought of everything.”

“Do the giant and midget even know how to use a fishing rod, though?” Kyungsoo muttered, examining his kitchen knife, “I don’t trust their skills.”

“You don’t have to trust them,” Sehun shrugged, “Just focus on cooking the food for us, Kyungsoo.”

Junmyeon placed the Dragon Ball detector on the ground, before finding something odd and raising his head.

“Since when have you stopped using the term ‘hyung’ when addressing Kyungsoo?”

“Since…two days ago?” Sehun replied, then snorted when Jongin cocked an eyebrow, “oh, come on. We are not in our own universe anymore, let alone in our country. We can make do without those burdensome honorifics that only serve to put distance between us, can’t we?”

“They’re not there to provide distance, they’re a sign of respect,” Junmyeon frowned.

But Kyungsoo shrugged without any interest:

“I don’t really care either way.”

“Really?” he blinked, even as Sehun raised his fist in victory.

“Yeah. Jongin calls me Kyungsoo already.”

“O-only sometimes,” Jongin clarified, as he lit up a match, “I thought I could be the only one doing it.”

“What?” Sehun drawled, oblivious to the other member’s embarrassment, “it’s selfish to hog all the benefits of informalities to yourself.”

“I’m not hogging them, Kyungsoo and I are both born early in our respective years, so…”

“…so yeah, he should still be your hyung,” Sehun arched an eyebrow. “Dork.”

Jongin opened his mouth to protest, before shutting it uneasily, noticing that Chanyeol and Baekhyun had returned with a bucket of salmon, waving the fishing rod happily above their heads. Sehun rapidly became engrossed in his half-sliced onion:

“If I had a say with the second wish,” he mused, “I would ask Shenron to get rid of all those formalities between juniors and seniors.”

Junmyeon watched the fire in pensive silence, before moving the dizzied salmon onto their chopping board.

“I would ask for something different,” he murmured.

Unexpectedly, the noise around the fire died down at his words, and he lifted his head to see the others staring placidly at him.

“What,” he blinked, “you heard that?”

“What do you mean, we heard that?” Baekhyun frowned, “you said that out loud right next to us.”

“I thought I was whispering.”

“What would you wish for, then?” Sehun inquired, his knife still buried beneath a layer of onion skin, “the second wish you would ask Shenron, I mean.”

“Um,” he struggled for words, feeling his face heat up even as he tried to regain his composure, “that, I’ll tell you guys another time.”

“Junmyeon, we are literally sitting around a God damn campfire, if there is a time for dirty confessions, it is now,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

“It isn’t a dirty confession!”

“Then what is it?”

Junmyeon slowly let his arms fall to his sides, lips tightly pursed. He supposed that, sooner or later, he would have had to explain his idea anyways. Now might well be as good a moment as any.

“Fine,” he declared shakily, “well, assuming that Shenron can realise wishes that would occur in our own universe, I…I would have asked him about…you know…restoring…” he drew a circle with his finger and his voice died off.

Jongin tilted his head, not understanding:

“Restoring?”

“Yes, as in,” he paused, swallowed hard, “restoring… _us_.”

At first, no one spoke. Then, Chanyeol turned white and hastily raked a hand through his hair:

“Oh.”

One by one, the others caught on, eyes widening with an “Ohhhhhh God”, until Baekhyun was the only one picking his teeth with a broken twig, squinting:

“Wait, sorry. I’m obviously not on the same bandwagon here, what are we restoring?”

“Restoring the group from nine back to twelve, you idiot,” Kyungsoo spat at him.

“What?!”

“Wait,” Junmyeon said, red-faced. “You didn’t even finish listening to my explanation…”

But Jongin gaped, a burnt match in his hand, and Kyungsoo was now scowling openly at him, while Sehun seemed completely frozen in place, pale as a ghost, his expression difficult to decipher.

At last, Kyungsoo pointed his knife at him:

“You want Shenron to bring Kris, Lu Han, and Tao back to the group... Is that what you want?”

Junmyeon subsided into guilty silence. Yes. He knew it sounded ridiculous. And yet…Yet, his hands were slowly clenching into fists.

“Wait. For real?” Baekhyun gawked.

“Yes.”

“That’s stupid,” Kyungsoo snapped, shaking his head, “they don’t want that. They don’t want to be a part of EXO and you know it.”

“I wouldn’t ask Shenron to _force_ them back against their will,” Junmyeon justified, “we can simply ask Shenron to change their minds about leaving the group. Think about it, ever since Kris ditched us without a warning, things have been lukewarm at best. If there hadn’t been that one huge scandal with his departure, no repercussions would have ensued, either on our reputation, our popularity abroad, or on the way we got treated in the company after that…Lu Han and Tao wouldn’t have felt compelled to leave either. Do you know how much crap we could-”

“Still, hyung, they left for a reason,” Jongin winced, throwing the broken match into the flames, “you can’t just take away their freedom as human beings like that. They have opportunities in China that Seoul just can’t provide them with.”

“I’ll ask Shenron to give them more activities with the third wish,” he frowned, “equal opportunities for everyone. Simple.”

“But it’s not what they _want_ ,” Kyungsoo repeated with more vigour.

“As long as we formulate our wish properly, there is no way they will even know that they _wanted_ to leave,” he scoffed, “they’ll be happy with the way things are! And nothing that happened in the past two years will be held against us anymore.”

The group dissolved into quiet musings once again. After all, the idea sounded easy enough. Chanyeol’s initial shock, in fact, had begun to subside under the orange flames, and only Kyungsoo seemed to find that Junmyeon still needed a wake-up slap across the face. But with every passing second, Junmyeon felt a little more assurance in his idea.

It was true; Yifan, Lu Han, and Tao did not even have to suffer. They would not even know that there had been another way out for them to begin with. It was a win-win situation.

“Do you really think,” Sehun began after an excruciating moment of hesitation, “that you can alter their own will and wishes with the Dragon Balls? Forever?”

“I…I don’t know,” Junmyeon admitted, blinking, “but surely, if Shenron can alter people’s memories, I don’t see why it would be impossible.”

The youngest member became quiet again, a strange glint swirling in his eyes.

“I’m…not so sure,” he said.

“Junmyeon, just let me ask one thing,” Kyungsoo interrupted, pointing at him with his red onion, “Are you sure that you are not doing this out of simple spite?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I mean – answer me honestly. Are you simply bitter that Yifan has started a wave of departures without consulting your opinion first? Because if that’s what it is about, this is really not worth it.”

“Huh?” he was outraged. “Of course not. I am thinking of the group’s interest first and foremost, here.”

“You’re telling the truth?”

“Honest,” Junmyeon nodded.

Kyungsoo left it at that, placing his onion back into his lap, before chewing pensively on his lower lip. While he returned to his slicing in silence, Jongin sat back, his face still haunted by the shadow of a ghost and Sehun picked up his task where he’d left it, black hair falling sombrely over his eyes.

Junmyeon exchanged a hesitant glance with Baekhyun, who simply shrugged helplessly.

“OK, listen,” Chanyeol ended up saying when the silence lingered, “first things first. We have to find those Dragon Balls before even talking about what we want to ask Shenron. Otherwise, this, and everything else, is all empty talk.”

“Mmm, you’re right,” Kyungsoo murmured, then glared, “for once.”

“The nearest Dragon Ball is located quite close from here, in the south, I believe,” Junmyeon provided.

“Yeah, having a second Dragon Ball would already be a nice start,” Baekhyun then looked up, cupping the air with his hand, “is it me or it is raining?”

“It’s raining?”

They paused, staring at the sky for a few seconds, as they felt the first few disparate drops fall; and then the downpour crashed onto them at once and the sky broke into a storm. Junmyeon covered his head with one hand as he watched their campfire disappear in the midst of the water wall, their buckets swiftly filling up to the brim.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

They gathered their things in a hurry and made a dash for the forest.

*****

“Are you almost done yet?”

From Kyungsoo and Chanyeol’s bedroom only came a dim noise of clothes being thrown out of their wardrobes, and drawers being taken apart. Yixing frowned in the corridor:

“Are you looking for their dirty laundry, or are you trying to tear the house down?” he enquired while stealing a glance inside the room.

“You’re the one who asked me to hurry up,” Yifan responded as he rummaged through the clutter on the table, “got to know what you want.”

“I know I _don’t_ want Minseok and Jongdae to think that the house has been burglarised in their absence,” Yixing furrowed his eyebrows.

“It’s a bit late for that. Keep an eye out for the front door, will you? I don’t want people to walk in on us while I am stealing your bandmates’ boxers.”

“Why do you keep saying ‘your’ bandmates; they used to be your bandmates too-”

His phone started to vibrate in his pocket. Yixing hurriedly picked up the call, and in the bedroom, all movements stilled.

“Hello,” he stammered, “Jong…Jongdae. Hi!”

“Hey, hyung,” the other member spoke up at the end of the line, sounding slightly perplexed, “umm, you okay? You sound err…kind of panicked.”

“Oh, I…I, uh, I just lost my cell phone, and I’m looking for it…ha ha.”

“Hyung…you’re talking to me with it.”

“Oh, shit,” Yixing moaned, and from the corner of his eye, he caught Yifan giving him an appalled stare before shaking his head, and shoving more spoiled clothing into his trash bag.

“Okay, you being hella weird apart,” Jongdae continued, “I was wondering if you could do the manager a favour and buy some baby diapers on your way home? Pretty please. The manager will pay you back.”

“Oh, uh…sorry, I’m back at the dorms already, I’m not outside,” Yixing prudently said, while peeking at Yifan, who simply frowned back in confusion.

“Are you? You were already gone when Minseok hyung and I woke up, so I thought…Okay, never mind. I guess the manager can make another trip later for the diapers. Oh! Hey, we got some iced coffee for you by the way.”

“Hold on, you guys are together?”

“Yeah…Minseok hyung cancelled; and I finished early. We kind of helped the manager to babysit since we were bored, but now we are on our way back. We will be at the dorms in about…three minutes?”

“You will be here in three minutes?!” Yixing outright screamed, and Yifan simultaneously jolted, eyes widening as he started to fill up his bin bag with more urgency than ever, “Listen, Jongdae, you can’t come back to the dorms right now. You hear me? You cannot come back to the flat. It’s uh…it’s a mess.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ask him if he is alone,” Yifan whispered loudly.

“No, he isn’t, the manager and Minseok are with him,” Yixing hissed back.

“…Hyung, who are you talking to?”

“No one,” Yixing laughed nervously, “I am talking to the fridge; the door is broken,” he then furiously mouthed in Yifan’s direction, “ _the_ _bathroom_.”

“Oh yeah,” Jongdae interjected on the phone, as Yifan whizzed past Yixing to raid the said bathroom, “yeah, I was going to ask the manager about repairing it, but never got around to doing it. Listen, we are coming out of the parking lot right now, so I’ll see you in two seconds, alright?”

“They are in the parking lot!” Yixing broke down into a wail, and Yifan instantly came out of the bathroom with his bag over the shoulder.

“Hyung…who the hell _are_ you talking to?”

Yifan pressed the speaker button:

“Jongdae. I am with Yixing in the flat right now. You can’t let the manager walk in on me, please; that would be extremely inconvenient.”

Jongdae’s tone immediately faltered to a pallid murmur: “What…shit. Fuck.” Then, a brief pause, “You’re…?”

“Yes, I’m Yifan.”

“What the fuck.”

“I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry,” Yixing whimpered with one hand over his eyes.

“Look, I can’t explain the details just now, but basically, Yixing is helping me with something extremely important in order to localise Junmyeon and the others’ whereabouts. If the manager catches me now, this all goes down the drain and we might never see them again,” Yifan utters seriously, “You’ve got to help me out, you and Minseok. Please. Distract the manager while I get the fuck out of here.”

“Localise Junmyeon and the others…? _You_ are trying to…? Jesus, someone pinch me, I must be dreaming…”

“We don’t have time to pinch you, Jongdae, the manager is coming,” Yixing wailed into the phone.

The next second, the call ended, and Yixing and Yifan were left staring at each other in bemusement. He made a dash for the front door.

“We need to get out now and take the first flight back to China…”

The lock of the door clicked at the same moment. In the blink of an eye, it opened and the manager stepped in with Minseok and Jongdae behind him, as well as a bag of groceries in his hand.

“What…?” the manager stammered, then focused on Yifan’s figure behind Yixing, with the rubbish bin bag overflowing with clothes, “Hey – what the–”

Jongdae threw himself forward, grabbing the bulky man by the shoulders.

“Run!” he hurled for Yifan and Yixing’s benefit, and the two bolted at once.

Minseok, who was still holding their manager’s daughter in his arms, gaped in total incomprehension.

“What…?” he dropped, bewildered, “was…was that Yifan? That…”

The said Yifan tumbled down the stairs of the apartment complex three by three, Yixing at his tail. Their manager bellowed, fighting against Jongdae’s grip: “What on earth are you doing?! Let go of me!”

Jongdae instantly let go of him, then yanked the girl out of Minseok’s hold and shoved her into her father’s arms. Minseok spluttered.

“Jongdae, was that…?”

“No time to explain now, hyung, come on.”

“Was that _Yifan_?”

But Jongdae had already seized him by the wrist and dragged him down the staircase in Yifan’s pursuit, ignoring the daughter’s wails and their manager’s orders for them to come back.

*****

“We should have at least taken the salmon with us,” Baekhyun yelled as they braved the incessant rain.

Above their heads, the storm was only growling louder by the minute. They had ended up hurtling down the hill to avoid any thunder on the treetops, sprinting instead by the edge of the manic river. The only Dragon Ball they possessed remained safely enclosed in the buffalo pouch on Chanyeol’s waist – Junmyeon could see it bouncing every time the younger man skipped through the mud, arms braced above his head.

“If we don’t find a shelter soon, we are going to get barbequed alive,” Baekhyun shouted as thunder cracked on the trees.

“We know, we’re not fucking stupid, _thank you_ ,” Kyungsoo beat back.

Junmyeon craned his neck through the pouring rain.

“Jongin, do you see something at the front?”

“Yeah, I think… I think I see a cottage,” the other man panted.

“A cottage?”

“God, yes, shelter,” Sehun wheezed.

He overtook Junmyeon, Chanyeol and Jongin in a matter of seconds, and Baekhyun accelerated too, trundling past Junmyeon’s breathless figure like a rocket, leaving him puffing woozily at the back of the queue.

“A cottage, but I…I don’t see anything…oh! Oh, wait…!”

The cottage appeared like a mirage through the trees, its wooden front porch and patio valiantly standing against the raging hurricane. They let out a simultaneous cry of relief as they arrived into its clearing, ignoring the deafening river stream behind them, and stumbled onto the elevated patio to open the door. The doorknob would not budge.

“It’s locked.”

“ _Knock_ ,” Kyungsoo ordered.

Chanyeol obeyed, but the house remained stubbornly shut, its owner nowhere to be seen.

“Fuck it,” he passed a hand over his dripping hair and sat down against the cottage’s wooden walls. “At least this patio has a roof. We can all sleep here until the storm stops.”

“Out here, in the cold?”

“Why don’t we use the capsule’s camping car?” Sehun asked.

“I’m not sure it would fare well, in this storm,” Junmyeon winced, “I don’t want it to be blown away while we are sleeping in it.”

“I guess the patio is the next best thing, then.”

They sat down individually on the varnished floorboards, sharing similar looks of exhaustion and stupor. Kyungsoo squeezed the front of his shirt and grimaced at the amount of water falling out of it.

“I can’t wait until we arrive in an actual city,” he grunted.

“This is all Junmyeon’s fault, with his silly second wish,” Baekhyun snorted into his hands, before stifling a yawn.

“What do you mean it’s my fault?”

The other five burst into good-natured laughter, before scooting closer to one another. Seeing their mirth, Junmyeon puckered his lips and settled down.

“…I hope the owner of this place is a nice person,” he said downheartedly.

“We’ll see that tomorrow morning. For now, get some sleep,” Jongin said while taking up the spot next to the door.

The elder man complied and lied down, but did not close his eyes straight away. He did not think he could get any rest at the moment anyways… And indeed, hours later, when he finally did fall asleep, he made nothing but restless dreams. In each of them, Yifan was sneering at him, a look of such disdain and contempt in his eyes, that Junmyeon felt he would never be able to sleep well again.

“Why do you have to look at me like that?” he thought, “when you are the one who betrayed us all.”

Yifan didn’t reply. He had never told Junmyeon what he really thought of, after all.

The next morning, he woke up to the scent of bacon and eggs, a delicious fragrance which immediately teased the monster in his stomach. Overwhelming sunshine lit up the sky outside, folded into an infinitude of blue above the house and speckled with groups of migrating birds. The grass still shimmered with a remainder of morning dew.

Next to him, Sehun groggily sat up and stretched his limbs with a yawn.

“I dreamt that Chanyeol and Baekhyun got eaten by a salt monster,” were the first words he mumbled, and the two members in question frowned at him.

Meanwhile, Junmyeon observed his surroundings. A barbeque grill and a table had been set up by the river, spreading a wonderful smell in the air, and a sprinkler watered the grass, but their host was nowhere in sight. The patio too, had changed overnight. A lounge chair was now on the porch, with a round coffee table and a bowl of fresh cherries on it. Sehun now stared at the purple bowl with groggy eyes.

“The owner must have woken up and set up the barbeque grill,” Jongin said while nudging a slumbering Kyungsoo delicately, “we should try to find them and ask for help.”

“I wonder why they didn’t try to wake us up after seeing us here,” Junmyeon murmured instead. “And where _are_ they anyways?”

“Maybe they’ve gone to fetch something inside.”

Junmyeon wondered if that was the case. He felt rather uneasy here – as if they had been observed for much longer than was reassuring – but the coast was peaceful and clear as far as he could see, and the clearing was so tranquil that he felt guilty for doubting it. Sehun was still ogling the coffee table vacantly, so much that Chanyeol soon shook him to wake him up.

“Hey. What are you staring at?”

“A Dragon Ball…”

“What?”

Sehun turned slowly to blink at them.

“There’s a Dragon ball on the coffee table.”

“ _What_?”

Junmyeon’s neck almost snapped as he raised his head. The orange sphere resting over scattered sheets on the table, which he had initially mistaken for an ordinary paperweight, made him let out a scream, as he saw the six red stars glimmering in it.

There was no mistake. He looked down at his radar.

The Dragon Ball’s location on the detector was exactly where that paperweight rested.

“That’s…” he pointed vehemently at the orb, “that’s the Liu Xing Qiu, for real…!”

“I’ll go and get it,” Sehun shouted as he scrambled to his feet.

The next second, a loud clapping sound caused all of them to jump in astonishment. Junmyeon opened his eyes just in time to see Sehun roll onto his back with a groan, while a tall creature emerged in front of the lounge chair. Red, covered in coarse fur, the creature looked like a primate, but held itself over a huge broom-like tail, rearranging the collar of a silk nightshirt.

Baekhyun let out a scream of shock.

“A monkey in pyjamas,” he belted out.

The animal promptly chucked a cherry at him: “Rude! I am a ruffed lemur. There is a _huge_ difference between the two species, and I should ask you for an apology.”

“The monkey talked,” Baekhyun gasped.

The second cherry landed into his mouth, making him choke.

Sehun sat up, wincing as he rubbed his head.

“First, dinosaurs in Mount Paozu and now a lemur that talks… I’m fed up with this universe already.”

“I’m offended that you’d even compare me to the primitive beings that are dinosaurs,” the lemur licked his paw, sounding like a crusty old man, “my species is actually extremely refined, and few in my species are as refined as me.”

“I guess we can see that, judging by the pyjamas,” Chanyeol cocked an eyebrow, standing up, “are you the owner of this house?”

“Indeed. I found you sleeping on my porch when I woke up, and thought I should feed you. But it turns out that food can only cure hunger, not stupidity.”

“Never mind about that,” Junmyeon shook his head, pointing at the Dragon Ball with a thundering heart, “he’s got the Liu Xing Qiu right there, guys! That’s all we need to focus on.”

The old lemur glanced at the Dragon Ball, looking unimpressed. 

“What, so all this fuss was for a paperweight? If you’d wanted to see it so badly, you could have just asked.”

“It’s not a paperweight, Old Lemur,” Jongin shook his head, “that thing over there is called a Dragon Ball, and it’s something we need very badly to go back home.”

“A Dragon Ball?”

“Uh, yeah, there are seven of them in the world,” Jongin explained good-naturedly, “if you gather all seven, it allows you to summon a dragon that can realise your wishes.”

“Huh,” Old Lemur rubbed his chin pensively, studying the artefact, “well, I didn’t know that thing was so valuable. Maybe I should be hanging onto it, after all, or sell it for a fortune down in the village.”

“You idiot,” Chanyeol and Baekhyun hit Jongin on the back.

“Old Lemur, I know this might sound unreasonable to you, but we would actually like you to give us your Dragon Ball,” Kyungsoo pleaded carefully, “as Jongin mentioned, we’re actually very far away from home at the moment, and the only way for us to go back is through making a wish with them. If we could strike a deal with you for you to sell us the Liu Xing Qiu, we’d be happy to negotiate the terms...”

“Where is ‘home’ for you scrawny sticks?”

“In um…in another universe,” Chanyeol spluttered.

The ancient lemur pushed his glasses up his nose and narrowed his eyes. He was smiling when he spoke next:

“Interesting. I can tell from your eyes that you aren’t even lying. Very interesting, indeed.”

He paced along the patio, as if pondering quietly what to do.

“I thought you had an interesting appearance when I first saw you, and I see I wasn’t wrong, after all. Maybe I _could_ give the Dragon Ball to you, but on one condition.”

Baekhyun arched an eyebrow:

“And what would that be?”

“You’ll have to take it from me by force.”

“That’s all?” Chanyeol blinked.

“That’s all. And from what I see, that will take you a total of six months.”

Suddenly, Junmyeon could not care less about trying to put up a polite front anymore. He smacked both hands onto the ground, flabbergasted:

“ _Six months_?! In six months, we could do two concerts and a comeback, Old Lemur; you are making us lose our jobs as we speak!”

“Hmm, judging by your story, I think you’ve already lost your jobs in your universe, young man,” the hermit retorted with a knowing glint in his eye, “Besides, did you not already realise, when you started this quest, that it couldn’t be smooth and sweet all along? Why are you all flustered now?”

Kyungsoo pulled himself up first:

“Who says we _have_ to take six months?” he scoffed, “Those are just his guestimates. Maybe we could do it in a couple of hours.”

“Good point,” the lemur nodded and leered, “you won’t know until you try. So why not take up the challenge? You might just get an interesting bonus in the process.”

Junmyeon reclined and fought the impatience climbing up his chest.

“Alright, Old Lemur,” he nodded at last, “but don’t cry if we beat you at this game. You asked for it.”

The Old Lemur chuckled and bounced on his tail.

“I’m waiting.”


	4. The unlikely four

**_4._ **

**_The unlikely four_ **

The question was: Did Lu Han shed some manly tears when he’d heard about the accident that killed six of his former bandmates? And the answer was: Yes.

He was not ashamed to admit it. Well, he _was_ ; but at the moment, he was not ashamed to admit it to Lao Gao. And to his mum. And to his plush toy monkey, Woochi, who the world at large would never know the existence of. That was already a lot of people he was not ashamed to admit to that he had cried like a virile baby when he’d heard about EXO-K’s demise. And oh God, did he cry like a virile baby. Lu Han was a big man, with a big soft heart, after all.

“You should tell the media that you are deeply affected,” his agent had advised him, while he cured his puffy eyes with black coffee, at the back of the air-conditioned car, “it will be good for your image. Tell the public you have compassion.”

Instead of telling the media anything, Lu Han decided to take a three weeks’ break from any sort of professional activities. He resorted to spending some quality time in Beijing with Lao Gao and Woochi instead, who, during hard times, had always been there to understand him.

“You should at least give your condolences to the rest of your old group, man,” Lao Gao told him as he lied on his bed, with Woochi under his chin. “If it’s hard for you, I can only imagine it’s hard for them.”

“I already did,” Lu Han mumbled into Woochi’s soft, fluffy back. “I sent a text to Yixing as soon as I heard the news, saying I hope he could cope well and that I would be there for him if he needed me. Same to Jongdae. And to Minseok, I,” he grimaced at the memory, “Oh...”

“What?”

“I sent him a text that said ‘I am so glad you are alive’, full stop.”

His friend threw an appalled look in his direction.

“You’re hopeless.”

“I know.”

“So, what did he reply to that?”

Lu Han hugged Woochi with one arm, pulled out his phone from his back pocket with the other, and handed it to his friend wordlessly. Lao Gao had a look, then stated flatly.

“There’s no reply.”

“Yes.”

His friend shook his head at him. “You shipwreck, you.”

But now that a full month and a half had already gone by, Lu Han was a new man. Today, he had done his first photoshoot in a long time, and the photographer seemed reasonably satisfied with his modelling. Lu Han thought that with this, he could pick up the messy pieces of his life again.

“Five minutes’ break,” the photographer said, and the rest of the crew came back to life, migrating towards the coffee machine.

Lu Han sat down on the wooden stool on set, right as his cell phone started to ring. He picked up after a scowl at the caller ID:

“Yo, what’s up?”

“Hey,” Yifan replied, “It’s me. This is really urgent.”

“You need to stop introducing yourself as just ‘me’, no one knows who you are.”

“Yes, but life lessons apart, do you have your car with you?”

“Uuh. Yes, funnily enough, I came by car today, yes.” Lu Han tilted his head. “Why?”

“And are you in central Beijing?”

“Uuh. Yes, funnily enough, I am in the west side of the third district, yes. Why?”

“Listen, can you pick us up?”

Lu Han’s eyes widened.

“You’re in Beijing? Why the heck...”

“It’s a long story. But to get to the core of it, Yixing, Jongdae, Minseok and I are on a clandestine mission to find out what happened to Junmyeon and the others in his group.”

“...Say that again?”

“We need to get to a place at the northern border of the sixth district today. But we don’t have a car–”

“Yo, you know the traffic jam in Beijing, if we leave from the third district now, we won’t even be able to budge, but more importantly – wait. You and who? Junmyeon what?”

“Basically, Yifan thinks he has a theory that they are not dead and it’s crazy,” the voice on the phone momentarily changed to Yixing’s soft murmur, and Lu Han jolted.

“Yixing, is that you?”

“Sorry about that,” Yifan came back on again, “don’t listen to him, he is a non-believer. Look, can you pick us up? We’ve got, uh...an extensive amount of luggage...but we are in the third district too.”

“Can you not take a taxi?” Lu Han glanced at the photographer walking back onto the set after his coffee break.

“The place we want to reach is a secret laboratory. It would be very problematic for the media to find us there.”

“And you said Junmyeon and the others are not dead?” he squinted, “Are you certain about this?”

“I am 85% certain. I have sources.”

By experience, Lu Han knew those sources were probably shadier than the Beijing smog. But God forbid, Lu Han was not only a man with emotions, or a new man. He was also a loyal man, and he had not seen Yixing, Minseok and Jongdae since...well, since the very day he departed from the group, in fact.

He took a deep breath and stilled his voice again: “Yo. Okay, I will pick you up,” he shifted on his stool, “Just send me your coordinates by text or something – and give me some time to fight through the deadly traffic – and I will be there.”

“Thanks a lot, I knew I could count on you... Though, can you hurry up? We are kind of running late on appointment time with the boffin...”

“Don’t give me orders, I am already doing what I can, asshole,” Lu Han dropped. “Kay, hanging up.”

It was only once he ended the call for good that he realised what this arrangement meant: He was going to see the others again. After two full years. And he was not ready.

His heart began to beat in anticipation, while the room gradually filled up around him. The photographer clapped his hands, shouting at the crew:

“Okay, guys, let’s start in one minute.”

Lu Han jumped off his stool, facing them with a fretful face:

“I...” he blared loudly, “I need to go to the bathroom!”

*****

“Because of him, I have now become an underwear thief,” Yixing lamented very softly on the car’s backseat, hands over Lu Han’s headrest. “Lu Ge, tell me you find this outrageous too.”

“Is that why you two have so much luggage?” Lu Han cocked an eyebrow at them, tapping impatiently on the steering wheel. “All of that is underwear?”

“Only one suitcase,” Yifan specified.

“...That is sick.”

“Told you so, Yifan.”

“He means sick, as in, dope.”

“No, I mean sick, as in, weird.”

Around them, the endless line of cars would not budge by an inch. And to think they were currently on a highway...

“Where the hell did you even find this Professor Meng anyways?” Lu Han turned to Yifan next to him, “And who calls themselves Professor Meng?” he paused. “Meng, as in, cute?”

“He is a friend of a friend of a friend’s mother’s friend,” Yifan reiterated while rolling his eyes and Yixing squinted:

“I still think that simply means you’ve got very odd friends.”

“Well, considering we are his friends too, that would be like insulting ourselves,” Lu Han noted.

“Yes,” Yifan lifted one hand, “Exactly. Give me five.”

“But...that doesn’t mean I believe a word of what your Professor Cute says about parallel universes,” Lu Han glared. “Before he manages to show me Junmyeon and the others in the flesh, he is a rogue and a liar.”

Yifan graciously put his arm down again.

Lu Han waited for another moment or two, then asked the question burning his tongue.

“Where is Minseok?”

“He is with Jongdae, back in Seoul, to cover us up against the managers,” Yixing looked at his watch, “that’s twenty-two minutes and thirty-five seconds. Yifan, I think I still know Lu Han better than you.”

“Well, I wasn’t too far off either.”

“What are you talking about?” Lu Han turned incredulous eyes to the rear-view mirror.

“We were betting on you asking this exact question,” Yixing kindly enlightened him, “Yifan said you wouldn’t hold past the fifteen minutes mark. I said you would yield after twenty.”

“Wha– you...you guys sure had a lot of time to spare, to come up with bets like that,” he gritted his teeth to ignore his reddening ears, “so, uh...are they coming to join us anytime soon?”

“Why? Is our company not good enough?” Yixing smiled.

“It depends on what Professor Meng finds with what we can provide him with, really,” Yifan explained. “If he finds something concrete, we’ll call them over. If not, Yixing goes back to Seoul. So, I suppose you’ll have to hold onto your thirst for Minseok’s presence just for a little longer, Lu Han.”

“No one is thirsty for anything, okay? Don’t be ridiculous,” he retorted. “...Anyways. Are you guys doing well...generally?”

“What’s this? Small talk?”

“Well, the answer to that is not really,” Yixing exhaled melancholically, “I mean, technically, I am unemployed at the moment, so...”

“Nonsense. You have an independent studio in China,” Yifan snorted, “why don’t you find yourself a schedule in the mainland?”

“Because I, a person of integrity...”

“Yo, yo, yo, guys; the cars in front are moving,” Lu Han gripped the steering wheel in concentration.

They kept quiet as the car moved another two inches down the congested highway, then reclined again when the traffic stopped.

“We’ll be here until tomorrow,” Lu Han groaned, “What does your Professor Meng look like?”

“You’ll see when we meet him,” Yifan yanked his phone out of his back pocket: “Actually, he sent me a text just now.”

“What does it say?”

“He asks us to take our time on the road and says we have support...? What kind of support, I have no idea.”

“Pom pom girls,” Yixing wondered out loud.

“I hope not,” Lu Han re-joined, keeping his eyes on the road.

They momentarily fell silent.

“Pom pom Minseok,” Yifan then chortled through his nose.

“...I _will_ throw you out of this car.”

An hour later, he had parked his vehicle in front of a deserted garbage dump, following Yifan, who pulled his and Yixing’s suitcase into the desolated and smelly courtyard. The three of them arrived behind a pile of half-crushed cars, and Yifan bent down to knock on a round drain seal on the ground.

“Is that where you dug up your Professor?” Lu Han enquired with his arms akimbo. “Not the best piece of real estate around Beijing, if you ask me.”

“Shush, or I might get the rhythm wrong.”

“The rhythm?”

Yifan knocked on the manhole cover a few times, as if mimicking a little tune known only to himself, and then stepped to the side. Soon enough, a mechanical voice spoke up from beneath the lid: “Welcome, guests.” The drain seal cringed, hauling itself open, causing Lu Han and Yixing to exchange a look of uncertainty. Yifan, for his part, started to climb down the ladder of the drain without hesitation.

“His laboratory is underground, after a corridor down the sewers,” Yifan told them unaffectedly, “When I come down at the bottom, throw the suitcases down the hole, and I’ll try to catch them.”

“How much money must he have to be able to build a laboratory underground...?” Lu Han frowned.

“A lot,” Yifan responded while he arrived at the bottom of the ladder.

Lu Han peeked down the opening, then tossed the first suitcase.

“So where did he get that money?”

“Oh, he has a lot of close, important contacts willing to give him a hand or two. Professor Meng has a way with people, even though the public at large does not acknowledge him.”

“Did he get permission from the government, to build his laboratory here?” Yixing dropped the second.

There was a muffled sound of suitcases being caught at the bottom of the hole. Then Yifan replied:

“No.”

“Oh.” the youngest blinked, while Lu Han pushed the final suitcase over. “So…uh...this place is illegal.”

“Yes. Very much. So please don’t talk about it to anyone else.”

Yixing and Lu Han exchanged another glance, before the latter looked up to the sky:

“Just what did we get ourselves into, I wonder,” he sighed as he began the descent down the drain.

Underground, the trek was fleeting. They soon arrived in front of an ordinary metallic door with a nine-digits coded lock, and after Yifan entered the correct combination, it opened to reveal a vast, ghostly laboratory behind it, lit up by green LED lights.

The place was a compound, different rooms connected to each other through half-opened doors, each filled with different mysterious counters and thousands of utensils. Water tanks had been erected against the walls of their current chamber, and their pipes emitted a low hissing noise as they walked deeper into the laboratory. No traces of life, apart from one young man in a leather jacket standing by the furthest counter in the room. The man then turned around, revealing short black hair and a silver earring on his left ear lobe, as well as Tao’s face under thin black bangs.

Lu Han and Yixing screamed their lungs out:

“T-Ta-Tao is Professor Meng!!”

“Of course I’m not, you idiots!” Tao shouted back, then instantly blushed, “I just...I’m just here to...”

The rest dissolved into an inarticulate murmur, and they never got to hear the end of it. An old man had emerged from the adjacent room with lines of pink bows in his hair, a braided beard and a platter full of biscuits:

“Hello, hello! Sorry for making you wait,” the tiny old man beamed, “You two are Yifan’s friends, aren’t you? Yes, yes. Yifan told me everything about you.”

“Y-you’re Professor Meng, then?” Lu Han blinked at him, “nice to meet you.”

“You need help with that platter?” Yixing suggested.

“No, no, that is quite alright; thank you. So, do you have the samples I asked of you?”

“They are in that suitcase over there,” Yifan pointed meekly at their discarded luggage, still ogling Tao.

“Ah! Good,” Professor Meng nodded, “Wonderful, even. It was very kind of you to do that errand, Yifan. That will really help us a lot.”

The said Yifan only stared at Tao in stunned silence:

“What are you doing here?” he finally asked.

Tao struggled to find his words.

“He came here of his own volition because he wanted to help me localize your bandmates...ex-bandmates – you know. Same thing,” Professor Meng shrugged, “I told him that, of course, he could come and support if he wanted to, as long as he kept my laboratory a secret...He agreed, so voilà, one more recruit to our little research team.”

The scientist smiled before rushing towards a third room in the compound. “I think I’ve got tea as well...”

Tao glanced at Yifan with diffident eyes: “I wanted to talk to you.” he hesitated, “can we...?”

“Not now.” the elder man’s expression was impassive. Tao paled.

“I ran out of stock yesterday and only have jasmine tea left, I hope you don’t mind,” Professor Meng returned, completely oblivious to the newborn tension in the room, “unless you guys are okay with coffee, I have a whole warehouse of that. Verdict: Coffee? Tea?”

The room remained plunged in awkward silence. Lu Han tentatively nodded:

“Coffee please?”

“Excellent, then coffee it is,” the old man spun on his heels, before waving at Yifan, “Yifan, I’ll have you give me a hand if you don’t mind? It’s an awful number of cups.”

“Gladly,” Yifan pulled one of the suitcases with him and walked past Tao, following Professor Meng into the adjacent laboratory. “Can we start the experimentation tonight, Professor? The sooner we find those six people the better...”

Forlorn and neglected, Tao remained by the counter, his eyes meeting Lu Han’s for a fleeting moment before flickering towards the ground.

“Tao, um...what...”

“I am sorry, I just need a second,” the other man mumbled and swiftly exited the room through a side door.

Lu Han watched him go with his mouth wide open, stupefied. Yixing’s shoulders fell with an empathetic sigh:

“Oh, Tao...”

The next second, he, too, was out of the room, leaving Lu Han alone in the green laboratory, the plates of smiley biscuits staring at him with their vacant eyes. He eventually passed a hand through his hair, in disbelief at the turn of events, and sat down by himself, quite unsure what to do.

“Well, this is starting well...” he let out a bottomless sigh.

The biscuit he popped into his mouth, chewy and soft, tasted better than he’d thought.

*****

“You are stuck on the second Dragon Ball, you say?”

Even through the phone, Cleo sounded unimpressed, though Jongin could understand why. He sighed and kept the receiver between his cheek and shoulder as he fiddled with the portable satellite in the camping car.

“Yes, we’re aware that it’s been four weeks and a half,” he admitted, “but Old Lemur simply is impossible to get past.”

Even _impossible_ seemed like an understatement. As they had learned the hard way, the old hermit knew aikido, tai chi, heihu quan, boujutsu; and as if that wasn’t enough, he had the stamina of an antelope. They’d exhausted all possible means to get the Liu Xing Qiu from him, it seemed, and all in vain. Every day, they went to bed with sore limbs and dozens of bruises. Some days, they wondered whether Old Lemur was not simply trying to wear them out until they died of overexertion.

“He keeps the Liu Xing Qiu on his head at all times, even in the bathroom, and unless we find a way to climb up a thirty feet tree with our bare hands, there is no way for us to attack him during his sleep.”

“Well, that certainly sounds like a problem.”

“Right now, Junmyeon, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Sehun are chasing him down into the valley, while he is doing his groceries,” he sighed once more, “Anyways, did you have something you wanted to tell us about?”

“Well, I meant to talk about the results of the experiments I did on your bandmates, before you left Mount Paozu,” she said, causing him to blink. “There are a few interesting finds. And they concern all of you.”

He watched the door of the bathroom, where the dim sound of cascading water filed through the walls of the cubicle. 

“Kyungsoo is here with me, but he is currently a little busy. If you want to talk to him directly about the experiments...”

“No, it’s fine. You can update all of your group later, it doesn’t change anything for me,” her tone remained casual, pausing to take a drag from her cigarette, “I’ll just explain to you what I found. It’s quite amazing, actually. I ran a test based on Kyungsoo and Riv’s DNA, since they are both alive – unlike Piggy’s grandfather – and it turns out that their core DNA composition is exactly the same. They are equivalents of each other, in their respective universes.”

“Equivalents? You mean, your son, Riv, and Kyungsoo are actually the same person?”

“In their own universes, yes.” Cleo confirmed, “Different stories and different names, but the same person. When you guys opened up a breach between different dimensions, and travelled to this world somehow, this resulted in Riv’s equivalent existing in the same universe as him. Chanyeol is therefore Data Bank’s equivalent in your own universe. There is no telling where Baekhyun’s equivalent is. Or anyone else’s...They could be living on another planet, or simply be dead, or not born yet. And this could be true for who knows how many parallel universes existing side by side...”

“That means that there could be a copy of us in each and every single universe that exists, living in different time frames and different places...And by coming here, we duplicated the amount of ‘us’ that there originally was in this universe?”

“But that’s not all,” Cleo seemed amused, “I ran some tests on Baekhyun too, even though we don’t know where his equivalent is, and the results were the same as for Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. None of these three are earthlings. They are all from the planet Gleese, and it is therefore possible that the rest of you are too.”

Jongin pulled an unconvinced face: “That can’t be possible. Planet Gleese does not exist in our original world; we can’t be anything but earthlings.”

“Yes, that might be true in your universe. But by travelling through the breach, your genes could have been automatically altered to match your equivalents in this world...”

“...And in this case, we could all be aliens?” Jongin laughed despondently, “that sounds familiar for all the wrong reasons.”

“How come?” Cleo asked, then seemed to remember something: “Anyways, since you are from Gleese, you should be able to wield some sort of extraordinary power like Piggy and Riv, but it is possible that it is still dormant. It would be interesting to try and conceive an activating serum or something of the kind, to help you reveal your abilities. But we will see how it goes.”

“Thank you, Cleo, for telling us all this,” Jongin sat down against the sofa, with his feet bared, “I will make sure to let the others know.”

“I’ll keep you updated,” she replied, as the sound of a baby crying resounded behind her, “Oh. Looks like I gotta go. Well, good luck with the Dragon Ball anyways, and tell me or Piggy if you manage to get it.”

“I will. Thank you, Cleo,” he said. The line fell flat, and he put down the phone, when a soft voice spoke up from behind him.

“Was that Piggy and Cleo?”

He turned to see Kyungsoo standing under the light of the kitchenette, a towel wrapped around his waist and hair. Jongin politely diverted his eyes and nodded:

“If you stay like that, you will catch a cold.”

“I could say the same thing to you, you’re walking around barefoot all the time,” Kyungsoo mumbled as he walked towards the fridge, “so what did they say?”

“Cleo got the results from your DNA experiments,” Jongin explained, causing the other man to stare at him, “it turns out that Riv is you in this universe, that there is this thing called an equivalent, and that by passing through the inter-dimensional breach, we have all become aliens from another planet.”

Kyungsoo seemed repulsed: “What? Aliens?”

“Yes.”

“From where? If you tell me ‘EXO planet’, I will murder a man.”

Jongin smiled genuinely.

“You can relax: she said it’s from Gleese. The same place that Piggy and her grandfather came from.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo’s frown relaxed ever so slightly. “Still weird.”

Jongin watched as the other man pulled a carton of juice out of the fridge and poured himself a glass. Today again, the sight was too tempting. He leaned his head against the sofa and started to whine:

“Kyungsoo...”

The elder man cocked an eyebrow at him.

“I’m thirsty too.”

“Are you now?” Kyungsoo showed the shadow of a smile, “well, too bad. I just put the carton back. Just get off your lazy bum and pour it yourself.”

“I could, but I like it when you do it for me,” he tried with his best look of innocence and offered a candid smile. “The juice tastes better when you pour it.”

“That is the most illogical piece of nonsense I have ever heard.”

“But Kyungsoo, I’m serious,” he sat up with pleading eyes.

“Playing cute will not get you anywhere in life,” Kyungsoo snorted and left the fridge without getting Jongin a glass, causing him to moan into his arms. 

He closed his eyes with a sigh, while the other man came to sit next to him:

“Sheesh. My playing cute used to work on you.”

“We all graduate from our old weaknesses,” Kyungsoo smiled, handing him the juice for a sip.

Jongin’s face lit up and he gladly drank one large gulp, before returning the glass with a bashful glance into the other man’s eyes. Kyungsoo only studied him in silence, then tilted his head:

“Why are you only like that when we are alone?” he asked, perplexed.

Jongin wondered what to answer.

“Because,” he started with a non-committed shrug, “you let me do so, I suppose.”

The words seemed to suffice for now, because Kyungsoo soon sighed and tugged off the towel around his head:

“It’s quiet when Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Sehun aren’t here,” he remarked nonchalantly. “I like it.”

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it intense too, being together 24/7 like this,” Jongin replied, “It’s a bit like when we first debuted, right? The six of us stuck together without getting a minute alone.”

“I don’t know what to make of it,” Kyungsoo admitted, taking another sip of orange juice, “it’s weird.”

“But kind of refreshing, I guess?”

“I don’t see what part of six grown men stuck together in a camping car seems refreshing to you.”

“Maybe refreshing isn’t quite the right word,” he thought about it, “nostalgic is more like it.”

“Nostalgic.”

The other man rolled his eyes.

“Well. It does have a vintage quality to it, I guess.”

“The only difference between now and back then is that EXO-M is not here with us,” Jongin mused, tapping on his knees, “but well, if Junmyeon gets his way with the Dragon Balls, I guess, even that could change.”

“Yeah well, I still think that’s stupid.”

Jongin faced him fully, now.

“Bringing Kris, Lu Han and Tao back, you m-”

“I think it’s a shitty idea as any,” Kyungsoo elaborated, frowning at him, “you don't agree?”

Jongin wondered what to reply. In fact, he realized, he had not given this prospect enough proper thought at all.

“Well, ethically speaking, it's dubious for sure,” he ended up answering and paused, unsure how to proceed, “but I don’t think Junmyeon is serious about it. I think once we actually get the Dragon Balls, he’ll have moved on from it and forgotten about the idea…”

Kyungsoo only studied him in silence, not quite condemning, but also too serious to make him comfortable.

“If you disagree with the idea,” he finally said, flushing under the extended scrutiny, “why didn’t you tell him more clearly? You haven’t brought it up since he mentioned it the first time, around the campfire.”

“I’m just waiting for the right time to confront him about it.”

Jongin blinked at him and stayed silent, too surprised to speak. A shudder took him against his will, and Kyungsoo shook his head.

“Anyways, let’s talk about something else,” the elder man shook his head. “Just thinking about it makes me mad.”

“Ha ha…Right,” he scratched his head, “we’re not even close to getting all the Dragon Balls, are we? If it takes us six months to get the second one, we’ll find that Yixing, Jongdae and Minseok will have gone solo or made a successful career in Hollywood by the time we come back.”

They sat side by side, staring at the yellow wall of the camping car. The two then burst into an uncontrollable laugh, shaking the entire camping car in their mirth. Kyungsoo spilled his orange juice onto the carpet; Jongin bent over and grabbed his own sides.

The elder man then stopped abruptly and glared at him: “It’s not funny, they _will_ seriously go solo while we’re absent – we need that second Dragon Ball asap.”

“Sorry…”

“There must be a way to defeat Old Lemur,” he mused grumpily, rubbing his chin, “he said we could do it in six months, but why six months, exactly?”

“Dunno,” Jongin said, tilting his head.

“What does he expect from us? When we’d first asked him for the Liu Xing Qiu, he was indifferent, but as soon as he realized that we came from another universe, he started to throw this army regimen at us – I wonder what he’s trying to achieve.”

“Well, I have no idea. By the way, I forgot to say that earlier, but Cleo says that, since we are technically from Piggy and Riv’s planet now, chances are that we all possess some sort of dormant extraordinary power, like them, and are meant to figure out a way to activate them.”

Kyungsoo turned to stare at him.

“What the fuck.”

*****

“ _Catch him!_ ” Junmyeon blared as he and Baekhyun tumbled down the street of the farmers’ market in Old Lemur’s pursuit. “Sehun, the fish stall, catch him!”

From the corner of the seafood stall, Sehun dashed out, arms wide open to intercept the running lemur. But Old Lemur jumped up, stepped on his head and escaped through the other alleys of the market, the Dragon Ball still with him.

Junmyeon and Baekhyun crashed into their youngest member, then hurriedly scrambled to their feet and started chasing again.

“He’s heading towards the red vegetables stall! He needs broccoli,” Junmyeon yelled.

As the lemur appeared in front of the red tent, Chanyeol lunged out from behind the Chinese cabbage:

“Gotch’a!”

The lemur vanished. He reappeared on top of the cauliflowers, handing a few coins from his wallet to the stunned farmer, before tucking some vegetables into his groceries bag and slipping into yet another alley, the Liu Xing Qiu with him. Chanyeol was first to be back on his feet, sprinting behind him whilst shaking his fist: “Wait, old man!”

“Not an old man, a lemur,” Baekhyun rasped.

Three and a half hours of failed ambushes brought them running back to the valley of Old Lemur’s cottage, but just like every other day in the past month, they returned empty-handed, while Old Lemur faced them with the Dragon Ball safely on his head, resting in perfect equilibrium.

“I give up,” Baekhyun panted, falling to his hands and knees. “This is impossible... We will never beat you at this game, Old Lemur. The gap between us…is just… _too_ huge…”

The creature seemed highly entertained.

“Funny that you should say such a thing.”

Junmyeon tried to glare, but was too drained to even look up, his breaths leaving him in thin gasps, hands on the ground. This was mortifying. Weeks and weeks of chase, and still… nothing.

“In reality, all of you have made astounding progress in the last few weeks,” Old Lemur suddenly proclaimed, “In the beginning, you couldn’t even follow me all the way down to the village. Now, the five of us have made it back to the cottage at approximately the same time, and we didn’t even take any breaks.”

“So?” Sehun huffed, wiping his forehead.

“So, your stamina has greatly increased...”

“What’s the use?” Junmyeon coughed out, falling onto his side. “We still can’t catch you. We’re not even close to catching you... and with every day that we spend here, running behind you, the – the others are-”

He didn’t finish, for the camping car’s door had opened and Jongin’s head peeked out, walking out onto the grass with Kyungsoo behind him.

“Did we fail again?” the dancer enquired, shielding his eyes from the sun.

“Yes.”

Kyungsoo snorted: “Not surprising.”

“There is one way for you to catch up to my level, both in speed and technique, which is faster than what you’re doing now,” Old Lemur alleged as he held himself up on his tail, and they looked at him in confusion.

Chanyeol grimaced, still nursing a stitch in his side: “What are you talking about?”

“You guys have managed to increase both your speed and endurance just in the span of a few weeks. But you lack focus.” Old Lemur raised one little hairy fist, “the art of concentration, is what I’m talking about. It is only through inner focus that you will be able to control your energy, and wake up the strength that lays dormant within you.”

“Sounds like yoga,” Sehun rubbed his nose.

Old Lemur slapped him on the hand, making him yap.

“You might be laughing about this, but without inner focus you will never arrive at my level, and without that, you will never take the Dragon Ball with you.”

“…Unless you give it to us,” Baekhyun yawned.

“Seconded.”

The Old Lemur shook his head in exasperation.

“Wait,” Jongin abruptly realized, “actually, what Old Lemur said fits with what Cleo told me just now on the phone. She said that we should be working towards developing the natural gift that all people from planet Gleese have…Maybe Old Lemur can help us achieve that?”

“I’m sorry, but why would we be trying to do _that_?” Chanyeol frowned.

“Because the trans-dimensional trip made us into aliens,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, “according to her DNA tests, we’re all from Gleese, now.”

“What?”

Baekhyun sat up, looking horrified, his legs stretched out.

“What are you trying to do here? Give me an existential crisis?” he said after a blank.

“ _I_ didn't do anything, that's what Cleo said,” Kyungsoo arched his eyebrow. 

“Still, what the hell,” Chanyeol also looked incredulous now, “Fucking aliens? Really?”

"That's like Producer Lee Soo Man's fantasy come true,” Baekhyun smacked a hand over his cheek, staring at the ground in shock. 

“Is that why Chanyeol and Piggy's grandfather look like each other?” 

“Doesn’t matter if you’re aliens or not,” Old Lemur claimed, “anyone can achieve inner focus, if they put their minds to it, and anyone can benefit from it.”

The others momentarily stopped their griping to look at him. But Junmyeon still couldn't fight the mounting irritation in him. 

“And– what, you think you can help us achieve that?” he challenged.

The animal narrowed his eyes, “Of course. I can do it – if you have the perseverance necessary to keep up, that is.”

“Well…Anything to get that second Dragon Ball,” Chanyeol declared, determined again.

Junmyeon wanted to give a dry retort, but the Old Lemur had already snapped his tail against the ground:

“That’s the spirit! Then, we shall start here tomorrow morning. Meet me in front of the patio at six.”

“Six?!”

“The sun will already be up by then. And you don’t have any time to waste, don’t you?”

Baekhyun fell over onto his back with a grunt and did not move for a very long time.

After grumbling about their arms and legs, the others returned to the camping car, and Junmyeon waited until he was the only one remaining outside. Old Lemur had taken a seat on the patio once again, flipping through a magazine about cooking. An uncomfortable seething feeling still simmered in Junmyeon's chest, and he couldn’t shake it off, no matter how he tried.

“Old Lemur,” he grunted as he walked to the patio, making the hermit raise his head, “I have to ask, are you really doing this to help us in some way? Or are you just delaying us purposefully for your own amusement?”

Old Lemur smiled enigmatically at him:

“What do you think I would get out of delaying you purposefully?”

“Nothing! But as I see it, you don’t really need that Dragon Ball, and meanwhile, _our_ jobs and lives depend on us returning before the people we know give up on us…Every week – every day – means a lot to us. We really can’t afford to play around like you’re making us do.”

For some reason, the way the lemur looked at him cut Junmyeon short. It wasn’t exactly a gaze of pity, but he felt transparent, like his core was being exposed, naked, to judgment. From the corner of his eye, he caught Kyungsoo stepping out of the camping car with an orange juice, when Old Lemur declared: “All of you are restless, but I think some of you are tormented.”

Junmyeon felt his cheeks heat up. Kyungsoo looked at him.

“I…”

“Of course, I could give you the Dragon Ball if you really don’t want to stay. But I see it as a wasted opportunity. The road is still long– even if you obtained the Dragon Ball from me, you couldn’t guarantee that the rest of your journey would be smooth sailing from here.”

The Old Lemur made the Liu Xing Qiu dance on his tail, still smiling:

“Even so, would you still like to have the Dragon Ball right away?”

“No,” Junmyeon grumbled before Kyungsoo could intervene, though the other man side-eyed him. “I got it, already. We’ll stay.”

He accepted the orange juice being handed to him, still unable to shake the irritation off – not when Old Lemur was looking so pleased with himself. Out of things to say, he debated whether he should excuse himself, but Kyungsoo cleared his throat, still glancing at him:

“How do you plan on making us achieve inner focus, exactly?”

Old Lemur shook with restrained giggles as he entered his cottage.

“Oh, we’ll start with some easy training: Tomorrow, I am going down to the village to buy some magazines,” he disappeared through the front door, but his voice continued to speak: “As usual, you lot will follow me and try to keep up with my pace. Except this time…”

He came back out, holding three pieces of delicate china in his hands:

“You will each carry three of these porcelain plates on your heads, without letting a single one of them fall.”

Junmyeon and Kyungsoo exchanged twin dumbfounded glances before turning to stare at him.

“…What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, to add a layer of ridicule: Gliese (Gleese) is actually an exoplanet: there are many exoplanets that start with this name. E.g. Gliese-581g. 
> 
> The song rec of the day would be a short but lively instrumental track from the DBZ OST that never fails to make me nostalgic, and is called "Angel"!


	5. M on the chase

**_5._ **

**_M on the chase_ **

Unable to go home, or back to work, Yixing and the others found themselves obliged to camp inside Professor Meng’s lab, where time passed quickly and slowly at the same time. Now cooped up in one of the compound’s countless little rooms, he sat with Lu Han and Tao over a game of Old Maid, snacking and sipping on cheap sodas.

“Honestly, though, Tao...what brought you here?” Lu Han suddenly asked, and Tao glanced at him before replying glumly:

“You mean, back to China? Or to this laboratory?”

“...What do you _think_?”

“I was just...feeling terrible about myself after the news of the accident,” the younger man diverted his gaze with guilt and Lu Han ate another peanut. “I was wondering if I could do anything at all... and then this news report came on about a crazy old professor telling everyone that EXO-K had been sent to an alternate universe...I was out of ideas anyways, so I gave it a go and wrote to him...”

“You didn’t know Yifan was in the game, then,” Yixing spoke in mild tones as he picked one card from Tao, who shook his head.

“In the beginning, I contacted Professor Meng just to know what he meant by alternate universes...but then he told me about Yifan.” Tao glanced at his cards, before looking at the neighboring chamber, where said Yifan was now discussing with Professor Meng. “I really wanted to apologize to him.”

“He looks hella mad at you, though,” Lu Han commented, and received Yixing’s heel on the shin by the same occasion, “Ow that hurt.”

“If it’s Yifan we are talking about, I think he will come around sooner or later,” Yixing declared while shuffling the cards in his hands for Lu Han to pick, “He knows there are more important things to think about than to hold a grudge against you, at the moment.”

Tao looked down dejectedly at his can of coke.

“I feel so bad,” he said.

“Should have thought about it when you were wailing about on social media,” Lu Han noted, and Yixing kicked him again, “What?”

“We all learn from our mistakes,” he asserted, waiting for the elder man to choose one of his deck. When Lu Han leaned closer to inspect the back of each of the cards, he pushed the joker up by an inch: “If it was Minseok or me who was angry at you right now, would you not wish for our pardon?”

“Why do you always have to pull the Minseok card to guilt-trip me? I never did anything to hurt Minseok...” 

“...apart from leaving,” Tao and Yixing said at the same time.

“Tao, you’re ill-placed to make that kind of remark.”

“I agree with that, but I’ll also let you know, Lu Ge, that even though Minseok supported your decision, he was still deeply saddened by your departure.”

Lu Han pouted, tugging the joker out of Yixing’s hands. As he saw his pick, he grimaced instinctively, and Yixing smiled behind his deck.

“What about Sehun?” Tao suddenly questioned.

Lu Han sucked on his straw: “Well, as far as I know, Sehun got sucked into some kind of dimensional vortex along with the rest of EXO-K, so...”

“Sehun grew taller.” Yixing smiled gently.

Tao looked like he wanted to roll his eyes to the back of his head.

“That’s not what I was asking.”

“Whatever _were_ you asking, then?” Lu Han’s eyebrow jumped, just before raising his head in recognition at something behind Tao’s back: “Oh.”

Yixing and Tao turned, meeting face to face with Yifan’s figure looming behind them. The former leader’s expression looked stern under the greenish lights.

“Hey,” he only spared Yixing a glance, then nodded at Tao without smiling, “you have a minute?”

“Y-yes,” the younger man stood up at once, abandoning his cards on the table. Yifan led the way towards a small compartment on the side, shutting Tao and himself away behind a red metallic door. 

Back at the table, Yixing waited until they were completely alone, before giving Lu Han a complicit look:

“At last,” he wriggled his eyebrows. But the other man blinked back in confusion:

“What?”

“Well, the talk! It was about time they had this conversation, right? They should have had this talk months ago.”

“Oh... _that_ ,” Lu Han snorted, using the opportunity to peek at Tao’s cards, “Yeah, well. To think it takes the whole of EXO-K going missing to get them here – to get _all of us_ here...I guess we really are the slow type, after all.”

“Are we the slow type?” Yixing tilted his head, “I wonder about that.”

"I don't know many other guys who have as many unresolved emotional issues as we do...”

“We don’t have that many issues,” Yixing thought about it.

In fact, as he saw it, Yifan, Lu Han, Tao...they were all seeking the same thing, albeit in different forms. 

“I think we have just the normal amount of issues,” he finally said with a smile.

“Right…If you say so.”

“What about you, Lu Ge? You’ve got any unresolved issue you want to settle with the rest of the team, hmm?”

Lu Han only flicked some hair away from his eyes.

“I am not like those two, okay? When I want to say something, I say it straightaway like a man, instead of bottling it in. Everything I had to say to the others, I said it before leaving.”

“Are you really sure? What about-”

Lu Han slurped deafeningly through his straw, shutting Yixing up and prompting him to narrow his eyes, unimpressed:

“Fine. Fine, I get it.”

“Thank you.”

“Sheesh. But hey, I wonder what they’re saying,” Yixing propped his chin dreamily over one hand as he eyed the metallic door, “what if we had a listen?”

“No way,” Lu Han slammed his fists onto the table, “it’s their own emotional strife. The stuff between them is none of our fucking business and we shouldn’t even be interested to know.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

They glanced slowly at one another. In a heartbeat, they were on their feet, smacking their cheeks to the surface of the door and straining their ears side by side:

“I can’t hear a single thing.” Yixing whispered, palming the metal with a concentrated pout. “You think these labs are completely soundproof?”

“Who knows. With the tech that this old boffin has...”

“Maybe if we put a goblet to the door-”

“You should listen through the space beneath the door, it’s not completely sealed,” Professor Meng’s thrush-like voice suggested, and Lu Han agreed: “Yes, that’s a good idea...”

He spun around, Yixing and he stammering at the same time:

“P-professor!”

“Is there a problem?” the old man rearranged the pink bows in his beard, “I just wanted to give you a hand.”

“You almost gave me a heart attack,” Yixing sighed with a hand on his heart.

“Isn’t that one of your songs?”

“You know the name of EXO songs?” Lu Han frowned.

“This side-tracked me!” Professor Meng tapped his own cheek in remembrance, “I came to call you four, actually.”

Yixing blinked: “Why?”

“Ooh...I think I found something big about your friends.”

******

“What the hell is _that_?” Tao uttered as soon as the four of them returned to the main laboratory of the underground complex.

An array of screens spread from one end of the room to the other, assorted with innumerable keyboards and computers. At the center of this organized chaos, the biggest screen showed a miniature world map on one side, with a red dot bleeping in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. A mind-boggling, spiraling figure was spinning on the other side of the screen. Professor Meng navigated from one control board to another without resting.

“The spiral you see over there,” he chirped, “is my reconstructed model of the inter-dimensional portal that swallowed our little friends up; and the map on the left shows where exactly this vortex is located.”

“You managed to pinpoint the exact coordinates of the breach?” Lu Han gaped.

“Yes! All thanks to the vast array of DNA samples you have supplied me with, as well as the place where the aircraft was lost, and a series of more or less complex algorithms I shall not bother you with just yet,” he hummed and clicked to enlarge the image of the world map with the bleeping dot, “For now, it is sufficient for me to say that this breach is located where this red mark is, in the Pacific, and that it leads to a universe which is most probably neighbor to ours. Normally, the universes are distinct entities separate from one another, but every so often, a breach might occur between universes that are drifting too close to each other...This is a phenomenon which happens once every three thousand years.”

“I don’t understand what you mean,” Yixing blinked.

“Think of it as two circles moving at random,” Yifan spoke up, still examining the figure, “Apart, they are distinct entities. But if they move too close to one another, they might overlap, and create a very slim space in which both circles will occupy the same dimension, and be connected for a little while.”

“Exactly, and that is what creates the passageway from one universe to its closest neighbor,” Professor Meng smiled brightly, “where the overlap happens, there is a limbo state, but beyond it, a whole new world exists.”

He showed them the spiraling figure again, and tapped on a key which allowed six fluctuating bar charts to appear:

“This model allows me to probe into what lies beyond the passageway, to the extent that it detects whether our six little friends’ DNA models are reflected in our neighboring universe. As you can see the graph is moving well, so our friends are alive and kicking.”

“That is superb news,” Yixing let out in an awed breath, and Tao nodded enthusiastically.

Lu Han pointed at the penultimate bar on the graph, which grizzled and jumped more than the rest:

“Why is this one so much more unstable than the other five?”

“This one is our friend called Park Chanyeol...” the scientist glanced at it pensively, “and for some reason, there is something on him that is emitting an interfering pulse of its own – something like an item, that he keeps on him and emits a powerful electro-magnetic pulse.”

“An item with an electro-magnetic pulse?” Yifan squinted.

“It is a small item, from the scans I’ve been trying to run,” Professor Meng hurriedly pushed a few levers, typed a few lines of code, and made a fuzzy, dark, ball appear on the screen: “A small round item. Very solid. Like crystal, but much sturdier. It’s hollow at three different spots within the ball...” he pushed the machine a little further, clearing up the shape, “Three star-shaped little hollows...”

“A Dragon Ball...?” Lu Han scrunched his face up.

“A small round ball with three stars,” Yifan repeated, “why yes, that does look like a Dragon Ball.”

They stared at the dark, frizzling shadow on the screen, with its three perfectly equal stars imprinted in the middle.

“It’s…a very well-made Dragon Ball toy.”

“Chanyeol having a Dragon Ball toy on him doesn’t make much sense,” Yixing shook his head, “he’s not as big a collector as Junmyeon is, and besides, how could a toy be emitting an electro-magnetic pulse so big it can interfere with Professor Meng’s machines?”

“Unless it’s not a toy,” Lu Han blinks. “Unless this _is_ a Dragon Ball...they’ve landed in a universe where Dragon Balls actually exist, and are now on their way to gather them all.”

The others stared at him in bewilderment. Tao seemed completely out of the loop: “What for?”

“To realize a wish, of course,” Lu Han answered straight away, “if they invoke the dragon Shenron, they can ask him to send them back home.”

“That must be it,” Yixing gaped. “In our world, the Dragon Balls are only a fictional thing, but in another universe, they could be a real artefact with actual power! That could be possible.”

“So… that means we don’t need to worry about them? They’ll come back on their own?”

But Yifan shook his head at the screen now, narrowing his eyes:

“How many wishes do you get when you gather the seven Dragon Balls, again?”

“Three in principle,” Lu Han shrugged. “Two if you need to resuscitate a large number of people at once.”

Yifan seemed a little agitated.

“Ohhhh, knowing Junmyeon, if the Dragon Balls are real, he won’t be putting those two other wishes to waste.”

“What do you mean?” Tao turned.

But Yixing lightly hit his own palm with his fist:

“Of course. Junmyeon has always been bitter that you guys left the group. Maybe he will seize the opportunity to bring the three of you back, using one of the remaining wishes.”

“What!”

Lu Han and Tao ogled Yixing with undisguised fear:

“I hope you’re joking.”

“I’m just saying it’s a possibility,” the other man shrugged, “Junmyeon always took the crumbling of the group very personally, after all, and he thinks the group would be faring much better if you never left.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“That’s exactly what I think he’ll do, and there is no way that is happening. Ever,” Yifan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists: “Professor, is there a way for me to get to the neighboring universe using the inter-dimensional vortex?”

“Oh, yes, you just have to fly through the breach before it closes forever in three months’ time,” the old man nodded, “But considering that you have to travel past the limbo between the two universes first, there is a slim chance your plane would get lost before it can reach the other universe. In the worst-case scenario, you could get sucked into limbo alone, and only your plane would get past the breach.”

“Could that have happened to Junmyeon and the others too?” Yixing frowned in worry.

“Impossible, the graph shows all six of them in the other universe,” Lu Han scratched his neck, “but the crew of their airplane? I wonder if they made it through.”

“If you fall into limbo, there is no way for me to bring you back,” Professor Meng shook his head sadly.

Yifan faltered:

“Then, how...”

“Don’t panic,” the old boffin suddenly lifted his index finger, “Within three months, I can make you a fortified aircraft, for you to fly through the passageway without getting blocked. With that, you should be sure to make it to the neighboring universe. But I will not be able to bring you back here, as the passageway is a one-way tunnel... In fact, the breach itself will close in three months, and will probably never open again.”

“That’s alright,” Yifan said determinedly. “Once I’m in there, I’ll use the Dragon Balls to get myself back. I just need to stop Junmyeon before he pronounces that other wish...”

“We are going together,” Lu Han rectified, “You didn’t drag me this far into this to go solo all of a sudden, Yifan. We both have an interest in this anyways.”

“Me too,” Tao murmured.

“Well, I suppose I should call Minseok and Jongdae, then,” Yixing sighed in discouragement, “they should make an informed choice about this too.”

“Professor, do you think you could make an aircraft for six people?” Yifan inquired, and the scientist grinned:

“Of course. Just leave it to me, youngsters. Provided your friends are not back within the next three months, you guys will be ready to go.”

*****

It did not matter that Minseok had had time to prepare himself for this day, he was still not ready for it.

“The code for the main door is ‘79528#146’,” Yixing had texted him, right before Jongdae and he had travelled through the daunting sewer corridors leading to the so-called laboratory. “But if you knock now, we’ll know it’s you, so just knock and its fine.”

“This place smells like death in a bottle,” Jongdae said through his pinched nose, and Minseok nodded, quickening the pace. If it were up to his own standards, these sewers were disgusting enough to be worth reporting to the police - but perhaps he shouldn't go there. Not to mention, the entire place was suspicious as hell. He wondered whether they had not made a stupid decision in leaving Seoul, after all.

Minseok turned towards Jongdae without a warning, who braked.

“What, hyung?” the younger member squawked, still holding his nose.

“Just wanted to ask if you’re sure about this,” Minseok pursed his lips with concern, “I know we both kind of made a rash decision in coming here after them, and going back now means facing the managers’ bottomless wrath and some police investigations; but if you do want to go back...”

“Hyung,” Jongdae cocked an eyebrow at him, “you said it yourself, there is nothing left back in Seoul but our bloodthirsty managers, a few very worried policemen and stalkers who are panicked because we’ve gone off their radar. Yifan’s plan might be crazy, and he might be Yifan… but at least, his plan might lead to something.”

Minseok hesitated, when the other man added eagerly:

“Also, who knows, if we’re madly lucky, we might see and experience things we never did before...and we get to fly a private jet when it’s ready, so that’s always exciting.”

He gave the younger member a consternated look, who shrugged:

“What?”

“Did you accept to come all the way here to have fun with a private jet?”

“What I’m telling you, is to knock on that God forsaken door over there,” Jongdae used one arm to spin Minseok around, “and to do it quickly, please, because I might die of asphyxiation if we bathe in this skanky smell any longer.”

“Jongdae, if we go there and things go awry, we might not even be able to come back.”

“If we don’t go there, the two of us will be stuck back in Seoul with a second-rate solo or duo career, and feeling guilty of the rest of our lives for leaving our colleagues behind.”

Colleagues.

Minseok paused, thinking. That’s right, they were colleagues, first and foremost. He, more than anyone, had always been conscious of that fact. They did not hang out together in their free time. They did not tell each other their brightest hopes and deepest fears. But they were colleagues with a charged history, people with whom Minseok had experienced hell and without whom he would never have achieved what he was today. They were an existence that their current lives couldn’t do without.

Minseok couldn’t say that this had kept him up at night. He couldn’t say that, long before the plane crash, since Yifan had jumped ship two years ago, he had already been consumed by irrational guilt, the searing sensation that he had failed them somehow – those people to whom he owed his present self.

He bit on his lower lip and Jongdae gurgled.

“Are you ready to knock, or not?”

“Yeah, alright,” he inhaled sharply, before arching his back and facing the door with his hand raised. “Here I go, then.”

He had not hit two times that the metallic door swung open and revealed Lu Han’s wide-eyed face behind it, his mouth hanging open.

“Uh,” Minseok blinked, frozen in place. “Lu...?”

“Hi,” the other man spat violently.

“Lu Han,” Minseok tried, “...hi.”

They stood face to face, profoundly out of words. Minseok racked his brains for the thousand things he had prepared to say before coming here, but found nothing. His mind was blank. He opened his mouth but Lu Han was still faster than that:

“I listened to Wiz Khalifa’s ‘See You Again’ while drinking your favorite coffee brand in Beijing.”

Minseok drew back immediately and Jongdae grimaced: “Yikes.”

“That’s not what I meant to say,” the other man now waved frenetically, “I meant to say, I look at our old pictures three times a week.”

“That sounds _almost_ creepier,” Yixing informed casually as he walked around the corner, then opened his arms wide: “Guys, I’m glad you made it incognito!”

“Hyung! We asked the taxi to stop over nine hundred meters away,” Jongdae grinned as the elder man took him in for an embrace.

Meanwhile, Minseok and Lu Han were still assessing each other uncertainly.

“...Only three times a week?” he attempted to joke, but Lu Han only faltered:

“I ...I could do more than that?”

Minseok snorted before he could help it. He clamped a hand over his nose, but fortunately, the move seemed to reassure Lu Han more than anything, and the younger man was now smiling at him.

“Please don’t say weird stuff like that anymore,” Minseok ended up shaking his head, and the very next instant, Lu Han had stepped forward to pull him into his arms.

He let out a soft huff, feeling the air getting sucked out of his lungs, and heard the younger man’s voice whisper weakly in his ear:

“I missed you...”

He wished he could find the usage of his tongue again; unfortunately, no word seemed appropriate enough. All he could do was to let his eyes flutter to a close, and wrap his arms around Lu Han’s waist as tightly as the younger man was hugging him. It did not matter that he had had ample time to prepare for this day.

He was still not ready for it.

*****

_Four months later..._

“Sehun, the stick!” Junmyeon shouted.

Storming down the forest path with five porcelain plates on his head, Sehun caught up and threw a broken branch in his direction, which Junmyeon caught and swung at Old Lemur’s head. The Dragon Ball rolled off, and Jongin leaped out of a bush at the same time, arms extended.

“Not so fast,” Old Lemur snapped, chucking a pebble at the plates on Jongin’s head.

The china threatened to fall, before Jongin urgently grabbed onto them. Old Lemur seized the chance to retrieve the Liu Xing Qiu and hop away with it.

“Getting tired today, boys?” he taunted. “You’re starting to act sloppily.”

“Make sure you don’t regret saying that,” Junmyeon only sneered at him.

Old Lemur squinted, when Chanyeol and Baekhyun sprung out from the bushes behind him, hollering:

“Prepare yourself, Old Lemur!”

Their kicks were halted effortlessly, and Kyungsoo smacked his forehead in dismay:

“For fuck’s sake, stop divulging your _location_!!” 

Baekhyun, Chanyeol and the red hermit now escalated up the nearest oak tree, dispensing punches and kicks, until it began to shake, making them topple onto each other. Hugging the trunk, Kyungsoo was now violently quaking the oak tree with his bare hands, the tremors so strong that, within seconds, the Liu Xing Qiu fell off the lemur’s head.

“There it is!” Kyungsoo said as the crystal ball plunged towards the grass.

He soared after it to catch it with his hands, but received a leafy branch on the head instead. The Dragon Ball plopped onto the grass, just as Old Lemur arrived to pick it up.

Kyungsoo shouted: “Jongin, now!”

Old Lemur craned his neck. But Jongin was already in mid-air behind him, arms stretched, and when he swung his cane, the stick only hit a shadow. The next second, Jongin reappeared behind him, features lighting up with triumph:

“You lost,” he announced.

And in one sweeping move, he snatched the Dragon Ball into his hand, under the lemur’s astounded eyes.

“YES,” Junmyeon screamed from his spot. “YES, YES, YES!”

The dancer landed on the grass agilely, the five plates toppling onto his head, none breaking in the process. Old Lemur fell in front of him, looking both impressed and, somehow, proud.

Jongin held up the Liu Xing Qiu up with a victorious smile:

“We won!”

“We got it,” Baekhyun hopped up and down on his tree branch, before holding a screaming Chanyeol’s hands and dancing in joy with him, “we fucking got it! We managed to get the Dragon Ball from him!"

"Finally!”

Old Lemur looked oddly satisfied. He dusted himself and waited until Junmyeon and Sehun had walked up to him, followed by the others. Then, he let out a prim little cough.

“Congratulations,” Old Lemur said to all of them, “you lot have succeeded in taking the Dragon Ball from me in just under five months after your arrival: that is faster than I was expecting you to. As promised, the Dragon Ball is yours. You can do the rest of your training on your own now.”

Junmyeon and the others only stared at him.

“Running up and down the valley without resting, fighting with me to get the Dragon Ball, learning to hold more and more plates on your heads without letting them fall,” Old Lemur recited, “all of that trained you to control your energy and increase your endurance in a fight. That’s what allowed you to do what you did, just now, Jongin. The trick you used to get the Dragon Ball at the end, that was instant transmission,” the old lemur said proudly, “And you certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it without achieving inner focus first.”

“Instant transmission?” the others scrunched their noses.

But Kyungsoo looked like he understood:

“Of course. The dormant Gleese powers that we’re supposed to have. Jongin’s ability must be the ability to teleport.”

“So we really do have them…?” Baekhyun sounded a little concerned.

He scratched his chin.

“If Jongin’s power is teleportation, does that mean mine is just going to be the ability to be a human torch?”

Old Lemur hopped onto the nearest rock.

“Well, things are not going to be easy for you if you want to gather the seven Dragon Balls,” he yawned, “but my job is done. You have everything you need to survive on the rest of your quest. Good luck.”

Junmyeon waited for a moment, before stepping forward again:

“Thanks, Old Lemur,” he hesitated, “sorry for doubting your intentions in the beginning…You did help us a lot in the end.”

“Don’t be mistaken,” the creature smiled knowingly, “The difficulties awaiting you will only start from now on. Gathering the seven Dragon Balls will be a difficult task, no matter how strong you are…and besides, there are things that not even the Dragon Balls can solve.”

Junmyeon halted, heart missing a beat. Before he could ask Old Lemur whether he had been playing dumb all along about the Dragon Balls’ potential, Chanyeol suddenly called out:

“Old Lemur! Do you mind giving us some provisions to help us on the road? The next town is far away...”

“As long as you don’t touch my mango tartlets,” Old Lemur replied, his hands behind his back as he ambled down the hill with them, “I particularly love my mango tartlets...”

Junmyeon remained a few meters behind them, pensively staring at their backs. Things that even the Dragon Balls could not solve…he failed to see what those things would be, at least in his case.

*****

“Arrival at vortex in twenty minutes,” the automated voice of the aircraft told them peacefully.

Jongdae and Yifan, who sat on the first row, looked back at the rest of the passengers with their headset on.

“You guys heard that?”

“Of course, we heard that, you don’t have to ask us every Goddamned time,” Lu Han glared on the second row, with Minseok rearranging his seatbelt next to him.

Yifan turned back to the front with a non-committed shrug:

“Doesn’t hurt to double-check.”

“This is the worst,” Lu Han gripped his seatbelt like his life depended on it, as Yifan cocked an eyebrow at him, “A normal passenger plane is already bad enough. But something this size...? Makes you feel the abhorrent height even more...”

“If you want to vomit, don’t do it on the floor.”

“I don’t need your cold-hearted remarks, thank you.”

“Listen, boys,” Professor Meng’s voice suddenly grizzled on the intercom, directly into their ears, as he spoke to them from his laboratory, “once you reach the outer perimeter of the vortex, the auto-pilot function of the plane will have to turn off. You will then have to launch yourself manually into the vortex, using that big red button on the front of the control board. Do you see it?”

Yifan, Lu Han, Minseok and Jongdae all gazed at the enormous red button at the front of the plane, about the size of a volleyball.

“Uh yes, I think we see it,” Lu Han spoke into his microphone.

“Excellent! Five seconds before the auto-pilot goes off, there will be a countdown. At zero, you have to press that button, alright? Don’t miss it. If you miss it, you’ll have to pilot that aircraft yourself and I won’t be responsible if you fall into the deep blue sea.”

“Roger that,” Jongdae chimed cheerfully. “And then what?”

“And then, you’ll be into the neighboring universe...! The seventh, from my calculations.”

“Will you still be in touch with us once we pass the inter-dimensional vortex?” Yifan enquired.

“No, in fact, as soon as you hit that red button, my connection with you will be severed as well. From there onwards, you and I will be unable to contact each other anymore, and I will be incapable of bringing you back here.”

“So, our only way back is through the Dragon Balls,” Minseok murmured.

“That’s exactly it. And bring back some souvenir from the seventh universe exists, will you? As proof that it exists...”

“I will certainly endeavor to do so,” Yifan reclined in his seat and pushed his headset back.

The automated female voice spoke up again:

“Arrival at vortex in thirteen minutes.”

On the back row, Yixing shifted on his seat a few times, before glancing at Tao, who was sullenly peering out of his window.

“You alright?” he whispered quietly.

“Yes. Don’t worry about me, Yixing.”

“How can I not worry when you’re looking like this?” he moved closer and lowered his tone, “If you want to vomit, I have a plastic bag.”

“I don’t need to vomit.”

Yixing played with his thumbs for a little while, glancing at Minseok, who was rubbing a nauseous Lu Han’s back, and leaned back towards Tao’s ear:

“Eh. What did Yifan tell you, that day, when you guys went to that little room in Professor Meng’s lab?”

Tao only seemed more forlorn at the memory, causing Yixing to furrow his eyebrows.

“Did he not forgive you?”

“He said he would put our disagreements on hold while we are busy finding Junmyeon and the others in the seventh universe...” Tao revealed, keeping his voice to a bare mumble, “But he didn’t forgive me. The other week, he just said we needed to work together if we wanted to stop Junmyeon from forcing us back into the group against our will. I said I had other priorities. But in the end, we came to an agreement. It’s more out of necessity than because he wants to, though.”

“No way,” Yixing frowned.

“Ask him, if you don’t believe me,” Tao pouted.

“I kind of want to,” the other man mused, “but then again, I do believe you too... I just didn’t imagine Yifan to be so vengeful.”

“What did Yifan do?” the said Yifan craned his neck on the first row to look back at him.

“Nothing.”

The elder man narrowed his eyes before focusing on the front of the aircraft again. Yixing let out a sigh of relief.

“Say,” he then leaned towards Tao once again, “what ‘other priorities’ did you mean when you came to an agreement with Yifan?”

“Arrival at vortex in less than one minute,” the message passed through their headsets, and everyone immediately sat up straight on their seats, snatching their lifebelts in both hands. Lu Han moaned with his head against the window:

“Oh my God, this is the end...”

The air whistled around their aircraft, as the clouds ahead seemed to grow dark, thick and threatening. 

“Arrival at vortex in thirty-seconds.”

“I hope everyone had light lunches,” Jongdae cackled energetically.

“You’re way too enthusiastic for something like this, Jongdae,” Minseok scowled.

Thunder growled somewhere before them, and the plane started to shake. All of a sudden, the pressure fell and their aircraft seemed to plunge by an alarming hundred meters in altitude. Everyone instantaneously grabbed onto their armrests for support.

“Shit,” Tao braced himself with after-fear, and Lu Han began to wheeze.

“I need to get off,” he rasped out, scratching at the walls, while Yixing readjusted his seat and sighed:

“Get off where?”

“Countdown starting,” the aircraft informed them, “Five...Four...”

“I want Woochi,” Lu Han shouted.

“Who’s Woochi?”

The aircraft quaked violently.

“Three...Two...One...”

Yifan smashed the button with all his might and closed his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is simply no way for me to write MAMA powers without it being cheesy as hell, but the whole story has a ridiculous fantasy vibe, so I hope it's not too jarring yet. They're never going to turn into Super Saiyans, please rest assured. 
> 
> Song rec of the day is a little tune from the DBZ OST : Peaceful Times, which is fitting for Lu Han, Yixing and Tao's hangout time in the compound.


	6. Think out of the box

**_6._ **

**_Think out of the box_ **

In a small, peaceful valley of Mount Paozu, Piggy jogged after Riv as the baby crawled towards the lakeside:

“Oi, Riv, wait for me,” she waved her arm, and then tumbled over a rock, “oops.”

While she crashed and rolled down the grassy bank, Cleo’s voice called to her from under the tree where they had set up their picnic.

“Piggy. Are you alright?”

“All good,” she chimed, then held Riv up into her arms proudly, “Got’cha.”

The baby lifted his chubby finger at the sky with glowering eyes:

“B...irt.”

“Bird?” Piggy repeated without understanding.

Almost simultaneously, a growing rumble started to reach her ears. She turned around, searching the sky, and immediately screamed as she saw the fuming airplane charging towards her from above.

“Oh my God-!” she crouched down – and the aircraft zoomed past her, plunging into the lake, raising a wave the size of a building over her and Cleo. The water settled and washed their picnic away, and they emerged with weed clinging to their hair, a soaked sandwich still in Cleo’s hand.

“Okay,” she dropped, contemplating the drenched pieces of bread, “what was that?”

Piggy stood up with Riv in her arms, and hurried towards the edge of the beach.

“B...irt,” Riv stated again, this time, staring seriously at the spot where the aircraft had crashed.

The center of the lake was now fizzling with smoke.

“An airplane?” Cleo said lightly, walking down to her wife’s level.

“I think so...” Piggy frowned, “You think there were a lot of people in there?”

They waited in front of the fuming lake until the surface broke and three wet heads suddenly appeared, gasping for air. Lu Han, Minseok and Jongdae instantly started to swim towards the shore, just as Yixing popped up, coughing his lungs out. Yifan finally dragged the last one out of the waters, Tao, who sported a bleeding gash on his arm and spurted water into his hand. Piggy gaped at the lot of them, passing Riv to Cleo:

“Oh. Wow...” she rushed forward, reaching out to help Yixing and Minseok out of the lake, “you guys don’t look too good.”

“We’ve seen better days,” Yixing conceded as he gratefully took Piggy’s hand.

Behind him, Lu Han lugged himself onto the grass while taking wheezing breaths:

“Did we make it?” he croaked, “or did we die...?”

“Are we in the seventh universe?” Yixing interrogated, and Cleo widened her eyes:

“Did you just say, the seventh universe?”

“Wargh...!” Jongdae gurgled.

Before anyone could react, he had jumped to his feet and pointed at Riv in unadulterated fear:

“It’s...” he belted out, “It’s Kyungsoo!”

“Kyungsoo?” Piggy and Cleo glanced at each other, then back at the six soaked young men in realization: “Ohh...”

*****

“So, they already passed by this place,” Yifan murmured as he wandered across Piggy and Cleo’s living room with a towel thrown over his head. “And they left the mountain with capsules and a Dragon Radar.”

Piggy nodded while Cleo stitched Tao’s arm up.

“Yes, that’s right. But oh, if we knew you guys would be coming after them, we would have asked them to stay a bit longer…!”

“I think it’s a good thing that they don’t know we’re after them,” Yifan assured instead. “If they knew we were here, they’d probably hurry their asses off and escape us at all costs.”

“Why? Are you guys not friends?”

“It’s a little complicated,” Yixing smiled apologetically.

“How so?”

“Positive,” Cleo exclaimed out of the blue, sounding ecstatic.

The others jumped in astonishment and Tao, with his forearm still in her grasp, turned mildly scared eyes to her.

“What is?” he asked.

“Test results, positive,” she simply said with a satisfied smile and took a bleeping device off his arm, “I knew it. Like Junmyeon and the others, you guys are Gleeselings too.”

“We are what?” the five others said.

“What am I?” Tao looked positively afraid.

“It means your equivalents in this universe are not from Earth,” Cleo elaborated, “Just like Riv is Kyungsoo’s equivalent in this universe, and is a descendant from planet Gleese, you guys are the same.”

“An equivalent means…what,” Lu Han squinted, “a double?”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“So, you mean this little guy here is Kyungsoo’s double in this world?” Jongdae observed the grumpy baby skeptically, “someone pinch me. I’m dreaming.”

“But hey, does that not mean that there is a Lu Han, Yifan, Tao, Minseok, and Jongdae in this universe too?” Yixing suddenly lightened up, nudging the elder man: “Lu Ge, that’s two Minseok for the price of one!”

“Well, Minseok is priceless,” Lu Han snorted, prompting Minseok to let out a discouraged sigh.

“The point is, since you are actually from Gleese in this universe, you should have powers just like Riv, Piggy and her grandfather Data, who is Chanyeol’s equivalent,” Cleo rummaged in her belongings in search of something, “I was waiting to meet up with Junmyeon’s group to try this serum on them, but since you’re here, we won’t have to wait as long.”

“Wait, what serum?” Minseok was confused.

“Here it is,” Cleo pulled two syringes out, popping the protection film off one, to aim it at Tao’s forearm, “just hang on a second, it will only sting a little-”

“What are you doing?!” the younger man squeaked, pushing his chair backwards so hard that it oscillated and collapsed on the floor.

Cleo stood up with the syringe in her hand, cocking an eyebrow.

“I said it would only hurt a little bit.”

“What is that thing, though?” Jongdae pointed a finger at the serum in undisguised bafflement. “It’s – um... _green_.”

“It’s a serum which will help you activate your powers artificially,” she said. “On their planet, Gleese people develop powers through prolonged physical contact with other inhabitants, or through intense physical training. Since you guys don’t have time for either of that, the serum is a handy alternative.”

“It’s not going to turn us into some kind of monster, right?”

“Of course not,” Cleo scoffed. “Well, at least it shouldn’t.”

Lu Han and Yixing exchanged an uneasy stare:

“That doesn’t sound reassuring.”

“If you don’t want to try, that’s alright,” she shrugged, “I only have two of those for now, anyways.”

Yixing gave it a quick thought and leaned towards Lu Han's ear:

“I think we should have two volunteers,” he whispered, then pushed the elder man forward: “Lu Ge, you’re one of the eldest; lead the way.”

“Why me?”

“Well. Aren’t you the manly one?”

“This and that are unrelated,” Lu Han hissed.

But Minseok stepped forward and rolled his sleeve up: “I’ll have a go at it.”

Yixing and Jongdae erupted at once into over-enthusiastic cheers:

“What a brave soul!”

“Thank you, Minseok hyung, you’re the only one we can truly count on,” Jongdae wiped some imaginary tears, and Lu Han exploded:

“Alright, fine, fine! I’ll do the second one, sheesh...”

“You’re too easy,” Yifan informed him, “As always.”

“Glad to hear that,” Cleo whipped out the machine that she'd used on Tao only moments ago, “First of all, just a little test to check that you two are of Gleese origin as well...”

“Is there a way of knowing what powers we are going to manifest once the serum kicks in?”

“Not really,” she shook her head, placing the watch-like device around Minseok’s arm and waiting until it rang, “There is no pattern at all, whether it comes to the breadth of the power or its kind: Piggy and Riv have different abilities when they are mother and child. And where Riv can pound as many giant rocks as he wants despite his size, we know that grandfather Data could only light up a chimney fire with his finger, so...”

“MAMA powers,” Yifan voiced all of a sudden, “there’s a chance the powers match with what we had for the MAMA concept.”

“You think?” Yixing looked at him.

“Talk about a nightmare,” Lu Han sighed, as Cleo finished the test and applied disinfectant to his arm, “I looked absolutely ridiculous in that one.”

“Hey, but if it’s those powers we are talking about,” Jongdae crossed his arms as he sat on the sofa, “wouldn’t it make more sense to have Tao take the serum instead? Then, we could stop time until we find Junmyeon and the others.”

“Ah,” Minseok and Lu Han uttered at the same time, just as Cleo inserted the needle into the eldest’s arm.

She raised her eyes: “What did you say?”

“Uh,” Minseok let out a helpless laugh, “never mind.”

“I refuse to take the serum anyways,” Tao professed categorically, “who knows what kind of after-effects it might have on us? Not taking any risks.”

“Truthfully, we don’t know if Tao would really be able to control time if his powers manifested themselves,” Yifan added with his arms folded, “for all we know, Lu Han and Minseok could simply find themselves with super muscular arms, or the ability to forge a lock with their bare hands, who knows.”

“That’d be a shame,” Piggy conceded, while Cleo administrated the serum to Lu Han with a snort:

“Well, that is entirely up to you two, anyhow; my part is done... How do you feel? Anything different?”

“Can’t say there is, no,” Minseok flexed his fingers meditatively. “Maybe if we wait a little bit?”

The blonde stood up and put her syringes away.

“Maybe. It’s strange, I thought it would act up straightaway.”

“We really can’t stay here for very long either,” Lu Han scowled at his watch, “What if Junmyeon and the others find all the Dragon Balls while we’re here? We’d be screwed...”

“How do you want us to leave?” Minseok lodged his hands on his hips: “We neither have a Dragon Radar, nor do we have a car.”

“Hmmm, I lent most of my spare capsules to your friends when they were here,” Cleo crossed her arms, looking bummed out, “Piggy, do we still have a spare car, somewhere?”

“I think there’s Grandpa Data’s old truck,” Piggy cringed, “but it’s a little broken on the side.”

“I can try to fix it,” Yifan suggested.

Yixing and Jongdae frowned at him.

“Since when do you know how to repair a car?”

“I part-timed at a garage back in my trainee days. For two weeks.”

“Alright, I get it. I’ll send it to a garage,” she rolled her eyes before rubbing her chin, “Actually, that would give me enough time to make you a Dragon Radar as well.”

“When should we be ready to depart, then?” Minseok asked.

“Let’s give us seven days,” Cleo cracked her neck and sighed. “Seven days and you’ll be ready to go.”

Yixing nodded in agreement, though his thoughts were already drifting off faraway, far beyond the cottage and the round hills of Mount Paozu. He wondered where the others were, at this very moment. And he wondered what Junmyeon and the others would say, when they finally did catch up to them.

*****

With the nearest village being another half-day’s walk away, Junmyeon and the group decided to stop in a forest clearing to pass the night. Their camping car had been parked out of its capsule, the canned food retrieved from the fridge. All they needed to start their dinner was a woodfire.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the sight of dinosaurs walking around in the forest,” Chanyeol declared as he returned from collecting firewood. “They’re just eating leaves and living their lives, as if they never went extinct... it’s so fucking bizarre.”

He dropped his bundle in the center of the clearing while Baekhyun poked at it with a baton, until they made a neat little pile:

“Dinosaurs give me the creeps," he mumbled and yawned, "Can’t wait to get to a city so we can sleep in a proper bed and not have to see them anymore.”

"That'd be nice."

“Well, according to our Dragon Radar, the next Dragon Ball is located in a village, right at the bottom of this mountain,” Junmyeon told them, “so we should be able to sleep in a hostel tomorrow night.”

“Hurraaaay,” Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Sehun chanted.

“However, it’s a little bit odd,” he warned, tapping on the detector with his thumb, “The Dragon Ball seems to have changed locations a few times since I last checked...First, it hovers on a hillside above the village, then comes back down to the village every other morning.”

“So?” Sehun blinked.

“So, it means it’s likely to be carried by a living thing,” Kyungsoo guessed. “Right?”

“...I’m afraid so.”

“Uuuughh,” Baekhyun instantly plopped onto a rock, staring at the sky. “Great…another five months of training with an old rabbit or something.”

Junmyeon laughed nervously.

“I’d rather not. Thanks to Old Lemur, we did get stronger, but five months lost on one Dragon Ball is already ...too much.”

And the more they delayed their reunion as a twelve-member group, the more events they would have to erase once they finally did utter their wish to reunite. After all, even as they spoke, Yixing, Minseok and Jongdae were probably taking steps to move on with their careers, and God, Junmyeon didn't even want to think about the other three. The Earth that they knew was pursuing its eternal journey around the sun, without a single care for them; the world was continuing its life without EXO. It seemed to prove something, even though Junmyeon didn't see what, and he never dwelled on the thought long enough to see the full picture. 

He simply knew that he preferred to finish this quest as fast as possible. 

Jongin suddenly heaved a sigh: “If we spend five months per Dragon Ball, the world will have forgotten about us when we get back.”

Before Junmyeon could speak, Baekhyun smacked him on the shoulders: “Lighten up. Even if the world did forget about us when we got back, we could just ask Shenron to fix that with one of the wishes.”

“You can’t ask Shenron to fix _everything_ ,” Kyungsoo groaned.

“Why not? Invoking Shenron is the difficult part. But once we’ve managed that, we should be able to ask about anything under the sun!”

“Well, we do have a limited number of wishes, so I’d rather that we don’t waste any on something like this,” Junmyeon remarked offhandedly to forget his own unease. He dropped the dry logs onto the ground: “Let’s start a fire. Jongin, the matches?”

“Yes,” Jongin dug into his pockets, rummaging for a bit before frowning at them. “Uh...huh…?”

Chanyeol turned to him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I…I can’t find them.”

"Very funny," Baekhyun sneered.

"No, for real, I..." as white as a sheet, Jongin pulled his trousers’ pockets inside out now, revealing their utter emptiness to them. Realising at last that he wasn’t joking, the rest of them finally gawked:

“What?”

They rushed up to form a circle around him, fumbling together through his jacket and trousers while the younger man put his hands in the air. A dirty tissue fell out from his tweed jacket; then a melted piece of candy that made Sehun yap in disgust.

But the matchbox was nowhere to be seen.

“That’s okay,” Kyungsoo stated categorically when he noticed the mortified look on Jongin’s face, “we just need to stop making campfires before reaching the next town. It’s fine. What about the camping car?”

“The stove ran out of gas,” Junmyeon admitted. “That’s why we’ve been using the matches to start with.”

Silence dragged on through the circle. Jongin looked like he wanted to die.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry," Kyungsoo reassured him, "it's not your fault. We'll find an alternative."

"Sure, but what?" Sehun cocked an eyebrow, "should we cook sashimi?"

“I have an idea,” Baekhyun smirked, making the others look at him, “Remember how Cleo told us that Chanyeol and Piggy’s grandfather are equivalents in their respective universes? And how Old Lemur said that Jongin managed to take the Liu Xing Qiu from him by using teleportation?”

“What are you trying to suggest?” Chanyeol asked with concern.

“I am suggesting that maybe, _you_ can light up a fire for us, Yeol,” Baekhyun turned to him with a bright grin, “Piggy’s grandfather could use fire – you’re his equivalent. Now that we can control our energy, you should be able to light a fire if you try hard enough.”

Junmyeon’s eyes shot up towards Chanyeol, who stared back at Baekhyun in disbelief.

“I can do no such thing!”

“Yes, you can,” Jongin encouraged at once, “I think Baek is right. If I could use my ability while we were with Old Lemur, then there’s no reason why you couldn’t use your own ability too.”

“And that should apply to all of us, in fact,” Junmyeon mused, pensive, “at least in theory…”

Chanyeol did not want to show his inner turmoil, but still seemed a little unconvinced:

“Listen, I’m not sure about this...”

“It costs nothing to try,” Kyungsoo declared sternly, “make space for him.”

They reunited around their pile of logs, where Chanyeol squatted, about as confident as if they’d asked him to demonstrate how to do crochet. He opened his palms nevertheless, solemnly facing his target, and flexed his fingers:

“Okay, so, uh...you guys ready?”

"Whenever you are," Baekhyun smiled. 

"Alright then...here we go."

He snapped his fingers at the pile of twigs, which remained unscathed and unmoved, not a single spark hitting them.

“Cool,” Chanyeol said, the beginning of a blush creeping up his cheeks, “Well, that was worth a try. Moving on…”

“No, no, do it again,” Baekhyun shook his head, yanking him back down when he tried to stand: “Remember to concentrate all your energy in one single place in your body. Do it like Old Lemur taught us – with focus, or it won’t work.”

“How?” Chanyeol tensed up, and snapped his fingers again. “Like this?”

Again, nothing happened.

He closed his eyes, annoyed.

“Focus,” Junmyeon whispered.

“I’m trying!” he insisted, one hand still open, “it’s really not that easy…give me a moment.”

Taking a few deep breaths, he kept his eyes closed and left one hand hovering above the firewood. Junmyeon watched him concentrate, tense at first, then gradually more peaceful, until a light emerged between his extended fingers. As he held his breath, the radiance grew into a rich, hot orange orb, and when Chanyeol snapped his fingers next, the orb hit the wooden logs like a comet and set them aflame.

Baekhyun jumped to his feet:

“You did it!” he cried out, over the moon. “You lit up the campfire!”

The flames of the woodfire continued to grow, swiftly burning up to Baekhyun’s height.

“Uuuh.”

They grew and started to touch the branches of the trees above.

“Uuuuuuuuh.... Chanyeol...”

The nearest branch burst into flames and the tree began to burn. Sehun covered his head with both arms and started to scream:

“Holy shit!”

“Chanyeol!” Kyungsoo ordered, “Turn that off!!”

“How?!” Chanyeol panicked and opened his palms helplessly.

Within seconds, the grass around them had begun to crackle and drown in orange flames, causing Jongin to jump from root to root. Junmyeon resorted to hiding under a rock, his vest wrapped around his face:

“Holy shit, we are going to burn down the forest!”

Sehun immediately rushed to put the camping car back into its capsule. He then turned, looking oddly confident.

“Don’t worry, I got this.”

He took a deep breath and pushed a gush of wind out of his hands, blowing at the fire, which roared, doubling in ferocity. They ran away with renewed screams.

“You just made it worse!” Junmyeon shrieked.

As they tumbled down the hill in a pandemonium of terror, the path before them was suddenly obstructed by a gigantic sheep, almost as large as a car. Baekhyun was the first to brake:

“Stop! Roadblock,” he yelled.

They turned around and faced the irate flames slithering towards them, the orange snakes hurtling down the mountain with a vengeful roar. The sheep bleated in fright, but refused to liberate the path.

“We need to douse this fire with something,” Kyungsoo declared sternly, “Junmyeon!”

He spun around, dazed and confused. But Baekhyun caught on fast: “Right! We need water. Junmyeon! Water!”

“I…what?”

“Your power, it must be water,” Kyungsoo bellowed, eyes glowing, “it must be. Do it!”

Do it. Junmyeon's heart thundered in his ears. He had to do it. He concentrated all his energy into his hands, huffed, squeezed his eyes shut...but not a drop of water materialized in front of them. 

It wouldn’t work.

In an instant, the fact dawned on him, along with despair. It wouldn't work.

“What are you waiting for?” Jongin whelped.

“Fuck it,” Kyungsoo spat. But Baekhyun seemed to have a new idea and was waving his arms furiously:

“Never mind that, just use Sehun!”

The youngest member looked up from under his scarf, which he had tied around his head.

“What?”

“Use Sehun’s wind to blow the earth over the fire while Kyungsoo shakes the ground up,” he said, “we’ll put out the fire with mud and dirt.”

“Can you do that?” Chanyeol yelped from beside the giant sheep.

Kyungsoo and Sehun had placed themselves side by side in front of the raging flames, legs parted in fighting stance.

“Ready?” Baekhyun asked.

“No,” Sehun dropped.

“Too bad. One! two-!”

Kyungsoo never waited for the count to finish. He smashed his leg as hard as he could into the ground, and as the earth exploded under his foot, making an ascending wall of dirt and rocks, Sehun screamed:

“Three!” he thrust his arms out; and the wind flew with the momentum, colliding with the rocks and hurling them at the fire. 

It shook the mountain with a roar. Dirt flew everywhere, making the forest howl, and only after an excruciating eternity did the quaking subside. As the dust settled over the surface of the earth and the sky finally cleared above their heads, they plopped onto the ground and watched the slope before them, wiped clean of the consuming fire, but heavily buried under a layer of mud.

Sehun and Kyungsoo relaxed at once, a vacant expression on their faces.

“Wow,” the younger man dropped. 

“That was close,” Jongin murmured, shivering.

The overweight sheep bleated.

“And where the hell did _that_ thing come from?” Chanyeol gazed up at it, making the animal blare again. “If it wasn’t for this guy blocking the path, we could have just made a dash for it.”

“But then the fire would have spread,” Junmyeon wiped the sweat on his forehead, “I...I guess it’s a good thing we managed to deal with it here and now.”

“Riiiight, aren’t you glad you have a great resource person like me?” Baekhyun cackled, “without me and my wonderful ideas, we’d be cremated by now.”

“Still, it’s Kyungsoo and Sehun who did all the work,” Jongin pointed out.

“And Chanyeol who did all the damage,” Sehun snorted.

Chanyeol pushed him over, while Baekhyun pouted. Eventually seized by remorse, their resident giant rubbed his neck:

“Sorry about that,” he finally said. “I mean…I had no idea how to control it, so it is kind of my fault, I guess.”

“It’s not your fault,” Jongin shook his head. “None of us really know how to control these abilities yet. They don’t come with a manual…”

“With a bit of training, we’ll all get better at it,” Junmyeon breathed out, “I hope.”

His voice died out. Perhaps water-bending needed an existing water source to start with, and that was what held him back from performing, but he felt like that was not really the case. Had he just been too nervous? Sehun had done it in the same circumstances, and without a previous trial. What had stopped him?

The youngest's stomach growled loudly at the same time, making everyone look at him.

“I’m just starving,” Sehun glared at them.

“Let’s eat the sheep,” Kyungsoo proposed, but Baekhyun jumped to hug it:

“Noooo, you can’t eat the sheep, it looks like Yixing.”

Kyungsoo looked thoroughly consternated at the statement, but Junmyeon had to concur, his woes momentarily pushed at the back of his mind:

“I agree that we should abstain. It could belong to someone and we’d be in serious trouble if we ate it; let’s hold on for a little longer.”

“For how much longer?” Jongin asked with concern, “the nearest town is still a half-day’s walk away, isn’t it?”

“I think we should go for it,” he replied instead, although the five others looked horrified at the idea, “I know. It’s a stretch. But we’re really out of resources, and the village would at least have shops and places for us to replenish and rest.”

Baekhyun sighed.

“I say we flip a coin.”

“Agreed,” Chanyeol raised his hand, reaching into his pocket with the other, “head, we stay here for the night. Tail, we go.”

“Okay. Toss it.”

Chanyeol threw the coin into the air. He caught it against the back of his hand, and took a peek.

Holding the giant sheep on a leash as they dragged their feet along the beaten paths, Jongin yawned for the umpteenth time that night.

“Great idea, Baek,” Sehun mumbled while the elder man threw his head back with a groan. "Flip a coin. What a great idea..."

The sun was slowly rising over the horizon. Junmyeon had realized back at Old Lemur’s place that dawn came around very early in the seventh universe – around five o’clock, to be exact. Hunger, sleepiness and fatigue were all getting the better of them, but he could tell that, at last, they were approaching the village they’d been aiming for. The roads they’d been walking on had been widening, with signs of pastures and livestock passing by. He could also discern the rooftops of some houses built down the hill, where the Dragon Radar was taking them.

“We’re almost there,” he announced after a while, but Sehun already had his face buried in wool.

“I’m too sleepy,” he muttered, “I want to die.”

“Hold on for just a little longer.”

The sheep bleated, looking somewhat eager to get to the village. As they neared the wooden houses, however, Junmyeon couldn’t help but notice the barrenness around the streets, the general absence of life, as if all the houses had been abandoned. Some windows had been barricaded, and other buildings looked about to crumble.

Something wasn’t right around here.

“Look, I don’t want to sound like a party pooper here, but uh,” Baekhyun finally drawled, “they don’t look like they have even an aisle of a supermarket around here.”

“They could do with some more street lighting as well,” Chanyeol snapped his fingers absent-mindedly, letting a few sparks fly, “maybe I could help…”

At once, doors to multiple houses flew open, and a horde of middle-aged men ran out, surrounding them without a single explanation. They blinked as a small boy with a hunter’s hat, who looked ten at most, broke through the emaciated crowd.

He directed a loaded rifle at them with resolve, and the six of them held each other with frightened yells:

"It was just a joke," Chanyeol screamed, hands in the air, "I am not an arsonist!"

“Don’t move!” the boy yelled.

"Don't kill us!" Sehun retorted.

"You're surrounded," the boy only declared, "I won’t let you take my mother away!”

“Who’s trying to?” Baekhyun stuttered. “We’re not into older women?”

“I saw you!” the boy growled again, “You came down from the mountain on fire and were walking around with one of our sheep! You guys work together with Yamanbo and Yamanba, don’t you?”

At this, Junmyeon looked at his teammates, who returned his confused gaze, before staring at the strange boy once again.

“Who's that?”


	7. Yamanbo and Yamanba

**_7._ **

**_Yamanbo and Yamanba_ **

Tied to a chair, Junmyeon watched as half of the village had gathered in the townhall, ogling them with hungry and distrustful eyes. Sehun, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Jongin sat next to him, equally tied with rotting ropes, hands behind their backs. Facing them, a coughing old man, who, despite the general atmosphere of suspicion, offered them a tentative smile.

“Um…so.” Junmyeon blinked, waiting for someone to speak, only to be faced with chilling silence.

He tried clearing his throat.

“Now that we’re all tied up securely and very harmless…could we possibly know…?”

“We haven’t decided that you’re harmless yet,” the young boy with the hunter’s hat snarled.

“Come now, Boba,” the head of their village said, and Sehun looked at him with interest, “let’s not jump to conclusions. Maybe these young men truly are innocent, after all.”

“Your name is Boba?”

“What of it?”

“Just gives me cravings,” Sehun sighed, and Baekhyun threw him a look.

“Try not to sound like a cannibal, will you.”

“Yamanbo and Yamanba are two monsters who live in these regions, and terrorize our village by taking away our prized goods,” the old village head finally clarified. “They are cruel demons, who have reduced us to poverty by taking all our livestock and heirlooms, day by day.”

He hacked miserably into his hands, and Chanyeol pulled an uneasy face:

“So, uh, have you guys tried fighting back?”

“Guns and rifles have no effect on them,” Boba shook his head, “we are not strong enough to fight them off. Yamanbo can destroy an entire forest by spitting tornados of fire; and Yamanba is a master of shadows, who can make people disappear in his own shadow like a wizard. They are too powerful.”

“Every other day, at eight,” the village head recounted, “the monsters come down from their lair on top of the hillside and wander to the village, asking to challenge one of the villagers for a joke battle.”

“A _joke_ battle?”

“Yes. They would simply pick a villager at random and order them to tell a joke. If it succeeds in making them laugh, Yamanbo and Yamanba would agree to leave the village alone for two days. But if it does not, they would take away some of our goods. Of course, whether or not they laugh, Yamanbo and Yamanba always argue that they won the game.”

“We’ve studied all the best jokes,” Boba said resentfully, “but they always find a way to say that they didn’t laugh. And when we try to challenge them on it, they burn our houses down.”

“We are running out of livestock and things to give,” the old chief lowered his head shamefully, “in the last joke battle, Yamanbo asked for Boba’s mother to be their first human sacrifice. They said they would pick her up today at eight.”

“This is horrendous,” Junmyeon exclaimed.

“I won’t let this happen.”

The voice who had spoken belonged to an angry young man who had just barged into the mayor’s home like a paladin. Blond hair tied into a ponytail, a large blade attached to his rugged back, he had the physique of a fighter and declared with burning spite:

“When they come to pick our mother up, I’ll cut them down myself,” he made a cutting motion with his hand, “We’ve indulged them enough. It’s time that we give them a lesson and make them leave once and for all!”

"Brother," Boba's eyes turned round with awe.

“And who’s this guy now?” Baekhyun leaned over with a blink, and Chanyeol shook his head: “Dunno, but he does not spark joy.”

“It’s no use, Bobo. We all know you’ve been training hard in the mountains, but,” the village head sighed, “you would still be no match against them. None of us are. We cannot do anything against Yamanbo and Yamanba.”

“But if we don’t fight back, nothing will change. They’ll just keep taking our food, our livestock, and our most precious treasures. Aren’t you tired of this? They’re now thinking of taking our people too. They even took away our crystal ball!”

“A crystal ball?”

The group consulted each other briefly at this, then, Chanyeol snapped the ropes binding him. Though the villagers yelped with fear and immediately backed off, he pulled out the San Xing Qiu from his bag to show it to them:

“Did your crystal ball look anything like this?”

Bobo remained in the ambit of the doorframe, arms crossed and full of wariness:

“Why, yes. It looked exactly like that.”

“Except that ours had five stars instead of three,” Boba added.

“It’s a precious artefact that we used for rituals,” the village head enlightened, “But – but Yamanbo saw it and decided to take it one day as part of their loot.”

“I see…” Junmyeon mused.

There was no doubt, then.

Judging by the villagers’ story and by their current situation, the reason behind the Dragon Ball moving in and out of the village for the past few days was due to those two monsters, Yamanbo and Yamanba, carrying the Wu Xing Qiu as they walked in and out of it. This meant that the Dragon Ball was in the hands of a monster… God.

A monster…

Well. What could a monster do, anyway? 

“We’re…going to help,” Junmyeon stated determinedly, “my friends and I will take on Yamanbo and Yamanba on for you.”

Bobo and Boba both looked flabbergasted. But, as a matter of fact, the rest of EXO-K looked no less dumbfounded.

“Huh?!”

“You’ll really do that for us?” the village head looked hopeful.

“Indeed! And we’ll make sure that Boba and Bobo’s mother stays safe too.”

“How so?”

“…In exchange, you’ll let us have that crystal ball you were talking about,” Junmyeon interrupted, clasping his hands together and smiling contritely. “You see, it’s a collection of seven, and we are urgently trying to complete it…”

“Nonsense!” Bobo cracked like a whip, outraged. “I knew it…You guys are just mercenaries looking for loot – you don’t care at all what happens to our village, or to our mother, you’re no better than Yamanbo and Yamanba themselves!”

“Hey, uh, we’re really going to help!” Baekhyun now waved his hands, catching on fast. “Besides, once you’re rid of Yamanbo and Yamanba, you would get all your other treasures back, so, one crystal ball wouldn’t be of huge loss to you…right?”

The young villager clenched his fists, still offended:

“You’re despicable. And besides, you wouldn’t stand a chance against Yamanbo and Yamanba to start with, you all look like you’ve never lifted any weights in your lives.”

“Hey,” Sehun furrowed his eyebrows.

Junmyeon now broke his ropes as well, and the villagers yelped as he stood up.

“You have to trust us,” he said with his index out, “I do have a great idea on how to save the village from these monsters. See, we are going to go inside Yamanbo and Yamanba’s lair today, instead of Boba’s mother, and we will put them to sleep with a sleeping drug. Then, we will blow up the entrance and lock them up there, so they can never return to this village.”

Boba and the villagers frowned at him, the room suddenly shaken by murmurs:

“Lock Yamanbo and Yamanba in their own lair? Is that possible…?”

Bobo scoffed as soon as Junmyeon nodded.

“As if Yamanbo and Yamanba would let you do that.”

“And how will you all infiltrate their lair?” Boba seemed skeptical. “Yamanbo and Yamanba only asked for my mother as offering. If you just march in there with her, they will kill you on sight.”

“Actually, at least three or four of us can go in there together, depending on the number of sheep you have left,” Junmyeon beamed, “We’ll have one of us take Boba’s mother’s place, and the others will hang onto your remaining sheep’s stomachs. They are so big and woolly that it will be impossible for Yamanbo and Yamanba to notice us, and they won’t fight against you giving them more offerings... We will then put the monsters to sleep and destroy the entrance before they wake up. Easy piece of work!”

“It’s a stupid idea,” Bobo scorned.

“And who do you intend to send in as their mother’s substitute, Junmyeon?” Kyungsoo cocked an eyebrow, “just so I know.”

The group leader turned towards him, then grinned sheepishly.

*****

“I am going to kill you.”

Junmyeon eagerly turned around as Kyungsoo walked out of the bathroom in Boba’s home, and lifted the bottom of his navy-blue dress at him. His short hair had been hidden by a loosely attached shawl, and a damaged but flowery apron had been thrown over the dress, making him look like a pretty young maid with very, very grumpy features.

Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Sehun burst into frenetic laughter, while Junmyeon hopped to his feet:

“See, you look wonderful! You’re exactly the same height as Boba and Bobo’s mum!”

“And so are _you_ ,” Kyungsoo pronounced with a death glare in his direction, “I still don’t see why I am the one who has to go through this ridiculous disguise out of us six, when you could fit in this dress just as well.”

“You’re the only one who can provoke an earthquake big enough to block the entrance of their lair,” Junmyeon smiled at him, “We need you there at all costs.”

“I’ve never seen Kyungsoo look this pretty before – ow!” Baekhyun ducked, glancing at the sewing kit that the younger man had just flung at his face. “That could’ve killed me…”

Kyungsoo grouchily spun on his heels, looking at his backside, then twirled again unconvincingly before patting his apron a few times and seeking Jongin’s input:

“What do you think?”

“Huh? I…uh…well, I personally prefer you when you’re you, and not wearing all this,” Jongin declared in a panic. “But that doesn’t really matter.”

Kyungsoo scrutinized him a little longer, while Chanyeol exclaimed with his hands over his hips:

“What does matter is that Yamanbo and Yamanba don’t notice that you’re a man. In other words, you have to take a woman’s voice.”

“A woman’s voice?” Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes.

Boba and his mother returned from the kitchen with a plate of salami in hand, the petite woman smiling in tender amusement.

“I think you look a lot like me already,” she said.

“My mum speaks very softly,” Boba inspected him dubiously. “Will you be able to sound gentle enough?”

“I’ll shove a broom up my ass before I even try to sound gentle,” Kyungsoo grumbled.

Boba looked outraged, while his elder brother remained unconvinced by the whole ordeal, continuously shaking his head by the dining table:

“This is going to backfire on us. Terribly. I can feel it.”

“Let’s not be negative,” Junmyeon replied. “And let’s recapitulate. You have four remaining sheep, so five of us can go there, put the monsters to sleep using a special incense, steal the Dragon Balls and escape after destroying the lair. So, who goes with Kyungsoo while hiding in the sheep’s wool; and who stays here?”

“Well, Junmyeon, you and I should definitely go with Kyungsoo, since we’re small enough to hide under the sheep’s bellies,” Baekhyun mused, “but for the other two...”

“I want to go as well,” Bobo insisted, although Baekhyun jolted, throwing an alarmed look at the others. “I still don’t believe in your plan, which seems stupid and crazy, and if it backfires, I need to be there to slay the monsters before they return to the village for vengeance.”

“You, slaying the monsters,” Baekhyun casually repeated, without ill-meaning, “ooookay.”

“Well, anyways, if you want to come, you can,” Junmyeon shrugged. “But that means there is only one spot left on the excursion team. So, who wants it?”

“I’ll go,” Chanyeol and Jongin both raised their hands at the same time, and looked at each other, “Ah?”

Sehun arched an eyebrow at them.

“What’s with the zeal?”

“Jongin should stay here, because he can practice instant transmission,” Kyungsoo suddenly declared. “If you feel an energy in distress in the mountains, you can just zap to our rescue instantly. That means you should stay on stand-by in the village.”

“What?” Bobo scrunched his nose.

Jongin looked gutted at the statement for other reasons, opening his mouth and closing it again.

“I…But…”

“Well, I think it should be Sehun, who’s coming with us anyway,” Baekhyun added, and Chanyeol looked about to protest when he explained, “Sehun can help us spread the sleeping incense much quicker, you know, with his…wind.”

“His wind?” Bobo squinted again.

“Well, that’s decided. Sehun, Baekhyun, Bobo and I are going with Kyungsoo to Yamanbo and Yamanba’s lair first. Chanyeol and Jongin will stay as back-up.”

“Great,” Sehun said emotionlessly.

Chanyeol and Jongin exchanged a hesitant glance. But before they could speak, hurried steps had turned around the corner, the entrance burst open and the butcher from the village appeared, out of breath:

“Yamanbo and Yamanba are nearing the edge of the village. We can hear them already!”

“Okay, then. Dragon Ball mission – on!” Junmyeon ran towards the door, and the others followed in his footsteps, exiting the house one by one.

Boba yelled anxiously: “Brother Bobo, be safe!”

Before he could cross the doorstep, Jongin caught Kyungsoo by the arm, turning him around.

“What?” Kyungsoo glowered, visibly irked.

“Pro-” he stammered, “promise me you’ll be careful when you’re there.”

“Uhh,” now the other man looked vaguely confused by his concern, “sure? I mean…It’s not like I’m going to voluntarily throw myself into their mouths, or something.”

Jongin thought he probably looked like a kicked puppy about now.

“But…”

“Kyungsoo, we need your lady’s charm,” Baekhyun called out, and Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

Giving Jongin one last glance, he smirked and pulled the shawl tighter around his face, before dashing out of the house.

“See you in a bit.”

Jongin stayed behind, left with Chanyeol, Boba and his mother, who placed her hands over her heart and closed her eyes in silent prayer.

“I wonder if they’ll be alright.”

He bit down on his lips, not wanting to voice his own worries out loud, but feeling no less apprehensive. Soon, Chanyeol clicked his tongue in annoyance next to him:

“Screw that,” Chanyeol turned to him with a nod in the direction of the four others, “let’s follow them from afar. I don’t feel good about not knowing what’s going on, and I want to keep an eye on them. Are you coming?”

Jongin beamed with relief and nodded vigorously.

“Yeah. Coming!”

They broke into a run at the same time, causing Boba to snatch the rifle over his back and follow suit:

“Hey, wait for me,” he shouted and set off in their pursuit.

The path taken by the demons revealed itself to be more sinuous and discreet than they expected. In spite of their size, Yamanbo and Yamanba were light on their feet: their large footprints led Jongin, Chanyeol and Boba through the dried-up bushlands of the mountains, only to disappear in front of a long, repulsive bog.

“Weird,” Chanyeol halted before the swamp and bent over to touch it, “How did they manage to go through this without leaving any trails?”

“Yamanba has special powers,” Boba enlightened them with a sniffle, “he can absorb himself and others into his own shadow, allowing him to float above things and move at the speed of light.”

“So, that’s what allowed him to float through the mud,” Jongin frowned, and Chanyeol stopped to think for a bit.

“Jongin, can you teleport from here?”

“ _Teleport_?” Boba ogled them.

“I could try. But I can’t feel anyone’s energy just yet. And even if I managed, I wouldn’t be able to control where I land, so it’s likely we’d arrive right next to Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and the others. If so, we’d get noticed immediately and would ruin the whole plan.”

“We’re going to have to go through this bog ourselves, then,” Chanyeol shrugged.

Boba seemed slightly irritated:

“Get through this bog? How? Unless you can fly, it’s impossible – this marsh looked twelve meters long!”

“No need to fly,” Jongin walked a few meters backwards, “well, at least, I don’t think so.”

“What?”

He waited there for a little while, assessing the distance, before racing towards the bog at full speed. At the last moment, he kicked himself off the edge and propelled himself into the air; the force of the boost sent him soaring over the piece of marshland like a tennis ball. He landed on the other side and missed the fen by only a hair, before swerving on his heels to wave at the other two:

“You can do it! It’s not as bad as it seems.”

Chanyeol turned to Boba, who was gawking at him in utter disbelief:

“H-h-how did you – it’s twelve…”

“Okay, our turn, now,” Chanyeol approached him with an encouraging grin.

“O-o-o-o-our…?”

The elder man simply grabbed Boba by his midriff, ignoring the boy’s objections as he trotted to gain impetus. He then leaped off the bank while holding the screaming boy beneath his arm, and crashed on his knees, a meter away from Jongin, who clapped for him.

“Nice landing.”

“That was close,” he exhaled and put Boba down, patting his clothes, “not too scared, are you?”

“W-wh-what _are_ you two?” the boy stammered, as white as a sheet.

“Um, that’s debatable, and I’d rather not get into it,” Jongin laughed uneasily, then narrowed his eyes in the direction of the mountain’s summit. “I still can’t feel anyone’s presence, but I think I can see Yamanbo and Yamanba’s steps starting over there. Let’s go!”

*****

Kyungsoo refrained from swearing as he was brutally thrown against the wall of the gigantic grotto constituting Yamanba and Yamanbo’s lair. The demons tossed the oversized sheep one on top of the other next to him, and tied them up with a metallic chain over their necks. Kyungsoo’s shackle, being too big for him, was shut around his waist instead.

He looked up at the huge monsters as they stretched their arms. The two of them were identical, save for the horns. The one with a single horn on her forehead was Yamanbo; the one with three long ones on his brow was Yamanba. Gigantic and with red scales quivering under greasy black hair, the monsters now lugged themselves around the cavern, groaning and blowing out clouds of putrid air – disgusting and unrefined.

“I’m so tired,” Yamanbo grunted, “let’s eat all of them tonight.”

“Don’t be silly, if we do that, we won’t have anything left for tomorrow, and they ran out of stock in that stupid village...”

“So? They still have humans. We can just take humans to eat.”

“Well, that’s not wrong...”

Kyungsoo shifted as Baekhyun’s disheveled head popped out from one of the woolly tummies.

“You alright?” the elder man whispered with a grin, as Sehun, Bobo, and Junmyeon’s heads appeared as well, “feeling comfortable in that dress?”

“What about you? Not feeling too…woolly?” he retorted. 

They momentarily shut up to listen to Yamanbo yawn above them. An earring shone on her left ear, and when she turned, the jewel came into view – an orange orb with five stars arranged into a pentagon. Junmyeon hissed furiously:

“The Dragon Ball with five stars!”

“Is that all you care about?” Bobo castigated, even though Junmyeon looked like he could not care any less for decorum.

Kyungsoo opened his mouth to respond, but a similar orange orb glimmering on Yamanba’s right ear caught his attention. It was also a Dragon Ball, with five stars neatly arranged into a cross. His eyes widened like saucers.

“Hey,” he muttered, scowling. “Which one is the right one?”

They all stared at the two Dragon Balls, and Baekhyun’s jaw dropped open:

“Uhh…”

Bobo only lost patience:

“This isn’t the moment to care about that.”

“He’s… got a point,” Junmyeon whispered, though his eyes were still fixated on the Dragon Balls before them, hesitant to give up. “But hold the phone…don’t you know which one is the one from your village?”

Bobo looked embarrassed. “…No.”

“Really? I thought it was an important artefact used for rituals-”

“That’s the elders’ job! I go hunting and cut wood, and stuff!”

“Fine, fine,” Junmyeon grumbled reluctantly, admitting defeat, “I guess we’ll deal with it later, after the monsters fall asleep. Who’s got the incense prepared by the villagers?”

“I do,” Sehun lifted the slender incense stick and box expressionlessly. He placed them down on the ground, “you want me to light it up now?”

“When else!”

“Ok. Give me a second.”

Sehun tied his scarf over his nose and mouth. Kyungsoo was trying to imitate him, when he saw a shadow closing in on him and froze. Yamanba had sat down right next to him to start a wood fire.

“We could cook one of the sheep tonight,” he snorted through his crooked nose and scratched his ear, “That one looks particularly juicy. He’d make a good roasted meal.”

Yamanbo only responded by breathing fire to their pile of logs, and in the glow created by the flames, Kyungsoo thought he noticed three shadows furtively running behind a ledge of rocks above them. He narrowed his eyes, wondering if he had hallucinated.

“Or else,” Yamanbo abruptly said, “we could start with the woman first.” Kyungsoo snapped back to attention: “She’s been awfully quiet all this while.” 

“You’re right. It’d change us to eat some human for once.”

Kyungsoo shifted against the wall and lowered his head as one of the monsters suddenly leaned down, fetid breath blowing against his face. He glimpsed two giant, golden eyes studying him, and quickly diverted his gaze, feigning timidity.

“Are you scared?” Yamanba leered at him, his face only centimeters away.

Kyungsoo kept his eyes down. Beneath his sheep, Sehun was still struggling with the incense sticks.

“Always looking down like that – you think you can hide from us just because you’re not looking at us? That’s useless.”

“Why don’t you tell us a joke instead?” Yamanbo crowed. “If we laugh, we’ll wait until tomorrow to eat you. If we don’t, we put you in the fire, and roast you on the spot.”

“What?” Kyungsoo snapped in outrage, voice coming out in his usual tenor, before smacking a hand over his lips. 

“Go on,” Yamanba grinned, “if you don’t tell us a joke right now, we’ll throw you into the fire.”

He heard a pebble roll down from the ledge of rocks above, and glanced up just in time to see Jongin getting pulled back behind a mound by Chanyeol’s arm. As he focused back on Yamanba, the demon snarled:

“Hurry up and tell a joke!”

“Um,” Kyungsoo raised his voice to a feminine tenor, “I… I don’t know many jokes, I am sorry...”

“You want us to toast you like bread right away?”

At last, Sehun managed to light up the incense stick. A filament of smoke began to drift from behind his sheep’s bottom, dissolving in the air, while Yamanbo and Yamanba let out an impatient growl:

“This human is so boring…”

“Tell them the Kermit joke,” Baekhyun susurrated from between two handful of wool, making Kyungsoo blink at him:

“The what?”

“The Ker – mit – joke…!”

“They won’t even know who Kermit is!” Kyungsoo hissed at him. Yamanbo raised a bushy eyebrow:

“Who are you talking to?”

“No one,” he purred lightly, fluttering his eyelashes.

But the monster had already grabbed the sheep, and lifted it off the ground, causing Baekhyun to dangle off the animal’s stomach with a surprised yelp.

Yamanbo and Baekhyun stared at each other, the monster genuinely astonished while the latter tried a tentative smile.

“Um… hi.”

“What the-?”

“Hey,” Yamanba straightened up, “what’s that smell?”

“What smell?”

“Something smells funny…Like…herbs. It doesn’t make sense, but it’s making me feel uncomfortable.”

He focused on the smoke drifting in the air, and roared with fury at the pile of sheep.

“It’s that sheep’s fart!” he reached out for it, “that sheep’s fart is making me feel weird-”

“Don’t,” Kyungsoo started, but Yamanba clutched Sehun’s sheep anyways, just as the younger man rolled out, the box of incense in his hands. Yamanba and Yamanbo burst into an uncontrollable fit of rage.

“You!” the first seized Baekhyun and squeezed him mercilessly, drawing a scream of pain out of him, “what are you and your little friends trying to do, huh?!”

“Let him go!” came a cry from above, and Kyungsoo looked up to see Chanyeol falling from the ledge above their heads.

His kick sent Yamanba into the wall, letting Baekhyun fall, and Chanyeol swooped in before he could hit the ground.

“Thanks,” Baekhyun huffed.

“Nice timing!” Junmyeon rushed out as well. “Let’s blow our way out of this.”

Jongin appeared next, punching Yamanbo in the eye. As she howled in pain, Sehun chucked the incense away.

“You vermin are going to pay for this,” Yamanbo bellowed.

“You too,” Boba cried out from the ledge above, firing his rifle furiously at the monsters’ faces. His elder brother jumped out from his hiding place, astonished:

“What are you doing here?”

“Helping you!” Boba screamed.

“Guys,” Junmyeon shouted, “let’s forget the incense! We need to cut off the Dragon Ball from their ear before blowing this whole place up!”

“How do we know which one’s real?” Sehun scoffed back.

“You little scum,” Yamanbo hurled a firestorm at them, and Sehun stooped behind a dune of rocks with a yelp, to avoid getting scorched.

Jongin ran to Kyungsoo, breaking the chain binding his waist, and eliciting a smile out of him.

“Thanks.”

“'S nothing. I think it’s the one on Yamanbo,” Jongin only responded. He seemed very serious. “The real Wu Xing Qiu should have its five stars aligned into a pentagon.”

“Are you sure? How do you know?”

“Just…pure memory.”

Kyungsoo observed the two glistening Dragon Balls more carefully, as Yamanbo and Yamanba shifted to opposite ends of the cave, chasing after Sehun and Junmyeon, respectively. He himself couldn’t tell real from fake, and both Dragon Balls looked shimmery and authentic. But Junmyeon had left the Dragon Radar in a corner of the cavern, hadn’t he?

He bit his lips and made a dash for it, before Jongin could reach out to stop him:

“Kyungsoo?”

But Kyungsoo had already snatched the detector and run between Yamanbo and Yamanba’s legs, dodging until he stopped in the center of the cavern. There, his eyes travelled from the bleeping red star on the screen to the moving monsters on either side of him.

“Zoom in, zoom in,” he muttered irritably, clicking to magnify the image to the maximum; until, at last, the beeping star appeared to his right on the radar, where Yamanbo was shoving Sehun against a wall.

Yamanbo.

Kyungsoo jolted.

Jongin was right.

“It really is Yamanbo,” he raised his voice, “hey!”

Chanyeol, who was the nearest, turned first:

“What?”

“It’s Yamanbo who has the real Dragon Ball!” he said. “Blast her off with fire, or something.”

“I won’t let you,” Yamanba abruptly let out a cavernous laughter, and then swiftly disappeared into a dark purple fog.

He returned a mere second later to land a punch on Chanyeol’s cheek, sending him into a wall.

“What was that?” Junmyeon stared with astonished eyes.

“This time, it’s over for you,” Yamanba appeared again before Kyungsoo, making him turn. He shielded himself, but the punch never came. Instead, he opened his eyes again to see Jongin’s face over his – teleporting him to safety, meters away.

“Thanks…!”

Jongin only beamed. As he lowered him to the ground, Baekhyun’s voice bellowed from above their heads:

“Monsters; look over here!”

The confused demons raised their heads, blinking at Baekhyun’s figure standing on the rock ledge above them, hands spread on either side of his eyes.

“What is he doing?” Sehun frowned, and Junmyeon shook his head, although Baekhyun smirk reminded Kyungsoo of when he was about to get very annoying:

“You guys could do with a little tan.”

“What?”

Jongin caught on first, shooting a hand in front of Kyungsoo’s face and shouting:

“Close your eyes!”

“Huh?”

A massive ray of light shot from Baekhyun’s hands at the same time, flooding the cavern and flashing against the rocks. With their eyes pierced by the blinding light, Yamanbo and Yamanba instantly roared in pain, and buried their faces in their crooked arms, crying in agony.

“It worked,” Baekhyun laughed with unrestrained glee, “It fucking worked!”

“Perfect,” Junmyeon opened his eyes tentatively, “just perfect! Jongin, take the Dragon Ball now!”

Jongin swiftly teleported himself to Yamanbo’s ear while the monster screamed, and wrenched the Dragon Ball earring away from her. He returned to Kyungsoo, who was handing the detector back to their group leader and discarding the shawl around his neck.

“I am going to shake this place up after you guys run away,” Kyungsoo informed them as they gathered in the center of the grotto, “we’ll bury them alive while they are still blinded. You guys go first.”

“I’m staying here with you,” Jongin declared, “I’ll teleport us out of here once we’re sure they’re gone.”

Kyungsoo gave him the shadow of a smile.

“Fine.”

“Um, we’ll need to fetch Boba and Bobo, they’ve been blinded too,” Baekhyun pointed at the boys, who were now panicking and rubbing their eyes furiously, in vain. Sehun and Chanyeol scooped them up with a sigh, while Junmyeon cut the chains restraining the sheep. The livestock scampered towards the exit while he turned to them:

“Kyungsoo, Jongin, we'll see you outside! Don't delay!”

“Right.”

He threw his apron away before positioning himself into fighting stance, legs spread, with Jongin retreating by a few steps.

“Don’t stay too close,” Kyungsoo warned, his eyes still fixed on the growling monsters.

By now, Junmyeon and the others had escaped the mountain, their footsteps already too distant to be heard. Reassured enough, Kyungsoo closed his eyes in concentration, when Jongin suddenly giggled, making him stop:

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” the younger man shook, “It’s just…funny to see you standing like that with your dress still on.”

“This is not the right moment to distract me!” he blushed angrily.

Yamanbo cracked one eye open, her mouth foaming. Kyungsoo snapped his attention back to her and clenched his fists. It was now or never.

With one breath, he let all his energy out at once and smashed his fist to the ground. The earthquake which ensued was enough to cave the entire grotto in – a gaping fissure slithering from the spot he’d hit, all the way to where Yamanbo and Yamanba stood. As they fell in, swallowed by the rocks, their yells echoed against the crumbling cavern, vanishing for good under the rubbles.

Jongin shot both arms up in the air in celebration.

"Yes!"

The mountain only thundered in remonstrance above them, limestone shards shattering at their feet. Yamanbo and Yamanba, however, did not reappear. Kyungsoo looked at the damage caused and ran to Jongin’s side.

“The whole mountain is crumbling,” he said, “I think we should get out now – I don’t want to end up like them.”

“Alright,” Jongin straightened his back and turned, extending a hand for him to hold onto. “Ready?”

Kyungsoo smiled.

The mountain folded over itself, engulfing the entrance of the monsters’ lair and locking it up indefinitely. As he watched the cascading rocks falling before their eyes, Junmyeon pocketed the Dragon Radar and refrained from biting his lips in worry.

“What are they doing…?” he murmured under his breath.

Then, Jongin and Kyungsoo appeared before their eyes, holding each other’s hand.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s faces lit up:

“You’re back!”

“Sorry for the wait,” Jongin passed a hand over his hair sheepishly as he finally let go of Kyungsoo. Junmyeon fist-pumped to himself in relief.

Bobo and Boba were sitting on the grass, their vision restored, both disoriented and in shock. Neither of them protested when Kyungsoo walked towards them, kneeling before the younger of the two, who seemed completely lost:

“I think your village is safe,” he said, and the boy opened wide eyes at him, “Yamanbo and Yamanba were both buried under the falling rocks – we saw it with our own eyes.”

“That-” the boy’s eyes welled automatically, “for real?”

“Of course.”

The two brothers looked at each other, and hugged one another out of emotion, making Junmyeon smile.

“I was starting to think that you two were a goner,” he admitted, causing Kyungsoo to smirk.

“We forgot to pass the Dragon Ball to you before you guys left, too,” Jongin pulled the Wu Xing Qiu from his pocket. “Here.”

Junmyeon checked the Dragon Radar, filled up with pride when he saw the three red stars beeping side by side on the screen.

“It’s the right one,” Sehun stated in his stead, rubbing his nose, “cool.”

“I hope you have no problem with us keeping it, Bobo,” Junmyeon said to the young man, who was shaking his head, wiping tears out of his eyes.

“I’m just…happy that this is all over.”

“We managed to retrieve our sheep, safe and sound,” Boba sniffled, “Everyone is going to be so glad. The village is finally going to go back to its original state!”

“I guess we owe it to our great teamwork,” Junmyeon proclaimed, making the others snort at him, “and,” he turned, “to Kyungsoo’s earth-bending, of course.”

“What about me?” Baekhyun grinned.

“Also you, yes,” Kyungsoo smirked, “What you did, just now...what was that thing with the blinding light?”

“Aahhh, I would like to call it…the solar flare,” Baekhyun pulled on his collar with a proud grin.

Jongin chortled into his hand, while Chanyeol ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it mercilessly. Even so, Baekhyun was still giving them a thousand-watts smile:

“Aren’t you glad that you have a great resource person like me in the group?”

Kyungsoo only snorted and kicked him without vigor.

*****

The celebrations were short-lived. They left the township after a mere ten days of rest, having received a refill for their camping car, their motorbikes, and food. The village had started to undertake massive revamping since the monsters’ demise. It was slowly starting to regain its original colours.

The morning of their departure saw them off with a beautiful sunrise, and Junmyeon shook the detector cheerfully as they got ready to hit the road:

“There are four more Dragon Balls for us to find,” he announced to the others, who waited for him, “We’re pretty much half-way through!”

“Where is the next one?” Kyungsoo inquired.

“Let me see,” Junmyeon clicked on the Dragon Radar to turn it on, only to be distracted by something, “hmm?”

The other ones turned to him.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he zoomed out a few times, observing the patterns of scattered red stars on the screen, “I thought…”

“What?”

He scratched his head.

“I thought one of the Dragon Balls was way down south on the map, when I looked at the Dragon Radar, last week,” he explained, zooming out on the device again, “but now it seems that it has moved north-east.”

Kyungsoo frowned: “Are you sure you’re not just imagining things?”

“Perhaps, yes…” he mused, “Anyways, that’s not the closest to us, at the moment. The closest one seems to be situated east from here, where the sun is rising.”

“That’s where West City is situated,” Jongin enlightened while checking the map, “If we’re lucky, it might be located within the city!”

“That’d be paradise,” Baekhyun cried, “I dream of a comfortable hotel with a luxurious, burning hot bath where I could relax my muscles and have a some me time-”

“Let’s go already,” Kyungsoo snorted. “We still have a long way to go.”

He tossed his motorcycle out of its capsule, and Chanyeol followed suit. Junmyeon watched his bandmates leave first in a cloud of smoke, before examining their detector once again.

“Weird,” he stated, gazing at the small red marks bleeping all over the screen. Perhaps, he had truly imagined things. After all, there was no use in worrying: they were only four Dragon Balls away from realizing their wishes. Sooner than later, they would invoke Shenron and go back home.

Sooner than later, he would return them to the prime of their time, and their trip to this universe would be nothing but a dream...

Taking a deep breath, he climbed onto his own vehicle and started the engine, waiting for Sehun to climb up behind him. In a thunder, they set off in the pursuit of the other four, driving at full speed over the ever-winding road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The music rec of the day is a short instrumental track from the DBZ OST, which is called "Those Who Love Justice!" and sounds every bit as ridiculous and cheerful as the title makes it seem.


	8. The tower

**_8._ **

**_The tower_ **

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No,” Lu Han repeated with closed eyes.

“Yes,” Yifan affirmed.

The truck purred a little, coughed, and then exhaled like a dying soul. Behind the steering wheel, Yifan tilted his seat back and cleared his throat, while Minseok heaved a bottomless sigh.

“It died.”

They slipped out of the dead truck one by one, with Tao still rubbing his groggy eyes, and gathered around it as the night sky spread above them. The road unfolded, rolling ad infinitum before their eyes. Minseok dug a little deeper into his pockets and focused on the landscape ahead, trying to ignore the cold.

Yifan inspected the tyres while Lu Han smacked his forehead lifelessly against the car hood.

“I can’t believe it. We barely drove for half a day since Cleo and Piggy’s jet dropped us off. I just cannot believe it.”

“You’ve started saying that since the first time we stalled – it’s about time you _do_ believe it.”

“Have you checked that we had enough fuel?” Minseok suggested calmly.

“Yes. It’s not that,” Yifan responded, his head buried under the car, “it’s something else.”

“Well, Piggy did say it was an old broken truck belonging to her grandfather,” Yixing sighed, as he threw an amused glance in their former leader’s direction, “that mechanic obviously didn’t do a good job, maybe we _should_ have left it to our pseudo-mechanic Yifan after all, hmm?”

“I really did have that part-time job in a garage,” Yifan pushed himself out from under the car to stare at him.

“Well, anyways, it’s late, we’re in the middle of nowhere, the truck’s gone,” Jongdae scratched his head and hummed. “So…what do we do?”

“Only one solution,” Yifan stood up, then pointed at the car with his thumb, “Lu Han, go.”

The elder man only stared at him.

“What?”

“You took the serum back in Piggy’s house. Yes? So use your powers to move this car and us telekinetically to the nearest town... It’s the only way.”

“Wha– whu– I,” Lu Han choked on his own words, shaking his head violently, “I can’t possibly do that; are you crazy?”

“Oh, but Lu Ge, that’s actually a good idea,” Yixing’s face lit up, “you did use one of the two serums made by Cleo, so Yifan’s right, you can reveal your Gleese powers and get all of us out of this pinch.”

“We’re counting on you,” Tao concurred through a yawn.

“What about Minseok?!”

“Minseok’s power is probably ice,” Yifan frowned. “You want him to freeze the tyres?”

“No, but,” Lu Han bargained, though he used a softer tone, “y-you could possibly freeze the earth underneath it, so we can push the car on it like a slide.”

Minseok puckered his lips, genuinely apologetic:

“I don’t think I’d be able to do it as of now...”

“You heard him? He doesn’t think he’s capable of doing it as of now. Lu Han, you’ve got to do it.”

“Why does Minseok have a free pass to say no but not me?” he barked, then swiftly controlled himself and took a deep breath. “Okay – okay, _chill_. I’m cool, yo. I’m cool. I’ll try and see what I can do.”

Yixing and Jongdae clapped eagerly, the latter cackling in hilarity:

“Thanks, Lu Han hyung, we knew we could count on you.”

“I don’t guarantee any results, though,” he placed himself behind the car, arms stretched out before him. Then, he flushed and looked at Yixing for support: “How did Cleo say we could use our powers, again?”

“She didn’t, she just said we should be able to at some point…and that the serum would help.”

“…That’s not great.”

“Try to get the energy out from within you?”

“That doesn’t help either,” Lu Han furrowed his eyebrows and emitted a low growl at the vehicle, “come on…come on…”

“Focus on the energy inside your body,” Yixing smiled, hopping away from the truck to give him room. “Concentrate. Focus.”

“I’m trying…!” Lu Han crunched his face up, gritting his teeth and parting his fingers, intensely staring at the truck.

“It’s not moving,” Tao noted.

“Give him some time,” Yixing said.

“Come on, Lu Han,” Minseok whispered as well, “we’re behind you.”

“Hhhnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!” Lu Han snarled and smashed his fists angrily at the car bonnet, before letting his arms fall to his sides in galled wheezing.

The truck did not budge by a single inch. Yifan and Tao stared at the panting Lu Han in consternation.

“It didn’t work,” Tao remarked. “It just makes you look constipated.”

“I’d like to see you try, see if it doesn’t make _you_ look constipated,” Lu Han snapped back, but Minseok swiftly placed hand on his arm to calm him down.

“It’s alright, it was unfair to ask you to use your powers so early after taking the serum… Plus, Cleo could have missed some of her calculations, and given us an injection that doesn’t work.”

But Yifan shook his head with his arms folded.

“Still, for the man who thinks himself manlier than the majority of the male population combined, this isn’t very glorious, you have to admit.”

“If you want me to move that car, then I am going to move it!” Lu Han instantly boomed back, grabbing the truck by either side of its bonnet and starting to push with all his might, his face turning scarlet from the effort.

With one humongous war cry and bulging veins, he thrust the truck forward by a centimetre, the vehicle’s tyres digging a little deeper into the dirt as he stood there, legs parted and face running with angry sweat:

“There! Happy?!”

“You’re incorrigible,” Yifan declared flatly, while Minseok rubbed a hand over his face.

They ended up putting the truck back into its capsule, and walking on the side of the road under the starry sky, until reaching an endless patch of woodland beneath the mountain. The map showed a small town not too far away, but whether they could find it before their reserves of water fell low was a matter of luck.

Prior to their departure from Mount Paozu, the six of them had already checked the detector and seen two Dragon Balls approaching a third one in their current region. Cleo and Piggy had even been kind enough to drop them in the city nearest to those coordinates. But now that they were here, wandering below the mountain, the Dragon Radar indicated that Junmyeon and the others had already left towards the east… And there was no way for them to catch up without a vehicle.

“Too bad,” Jongdae sighed as their hike brought them into a deep, lush forest, where they set down the bungalow. “They only have three Dragon Balls so far, that’s still four out of seven to find. For now, we should focus on getting our truck fixed; _then_ , we can set off in their pursuit again. We’ve got time.”

“You think?” Tao said, sitting over the patio with his knees brought up to his chest, “to me, it looks like they’re moving quite fast and that Junmyeon is in a hurry to find those Dragon Balls as soon as he can.”

“He probably can’t wait to realise his two wishes,” Yifan sniggered with a clementine in hand.

Tao and Jongdae peered at the windowsill where he sat.

“You really think he wants to ask Shenron to bring all three of you back?” the latter asked, almost gentle.

“I think he can’t take the fact that I ‘ditched’ the group without asking for his advice first,” Yifan shrugged, throwing and catching the clementine distractedly, “Junmyeon takes this whole group thing as some sort of personal creed, where he is the leader of the sect and everyone has to stay under his wing. It’s like… engraved in him; he’s too brainwashed to see beyond his own ego – hence the self-pity when we left.”

“That’s being a bit harsh,” Minseok strolled a little closer, wiping his face with a wet towel before tossing it over his shoulder, “whether or not Junmyeon wants to bring you three back using the Dragon Balls is only a matter of speculation anyways. I think it’s too early to judge what kind of person Junmyeon is, just because he cares about his group a little too much for his own good.”

“Too much for his own good, _and_ everyone else’s,” Yifan rectified with a smirk.

“Either way, if you really think so lowly of Junmyeon, why did you even decide to come after him?” Minseok blinked. “I mean, I know you chased here after him because of the whole Dragon Ball ordeal…but before that? Why did you believe Professor Meng’s theory and accept to help him prove that Junmyeon and the others were alive? Without you, none of us would have ever known they were here.”

Yifan’s gaze softened a little, his lips relaxing under the pale moonlight. Minseok waited for him to justify himself. He waited a long time, but somehow, the younger man remained peacefully mute, refusing to reply, and only throwing the clementine again.

Tao soon dragged himself up from his spot on the floor and returned inside the bungalow:

“I am going to sleep,” he sighed.

“Already?” Jongdae blinked, “but it’s only ten o’clock…”

Minseok patted his cheeks with his towel, questions unanswered and a little dissatisfied. He soon noticed two figures standing in the grass, a dozen of metres away, which turned out to be Yixing and Lu Han. The younger of the two was pointing at something which was hidden from Minseok’s view by the roof of the patio, talking animatedly, and the elder man nodded, as if agreeing to something.

He frowned, leaving Yifan to his brooding, and paced out after them.

“Hey,” he tilted his head hesitantly when they saw him arrive, “uh, something’s wrong?”

“Ah, Minseok, no… nothing _wrong_ per se,” Lu Han shook his head embarrassedly, then pointed upwards to the sky, “But look over there.”

Minseok raised his head, following the direction of Lu Han’s finger and staring in the distance. There, in the night sky, was a line. A thick line, almost as thick as his finger, from where he looked, vertically cutting the sky in half, from the summit of the highest trees to the bottom of the lowest clouds, and above still. Until which height the vertical line could run, Minseok had no idea. He glanced at his two companions without understanding, wondering if it was supposed to mean something.

“What is that?” he frowned.

Yixing and Lu Han replied at the same time:

“Karin’s Tower.”

*****

“So…who’s Karin?” Tao interrogated, as they sat in a small circle beneath the ever-running tower. 

“Karin,” Yixing kindly elucidated, “is a cat-like hermit who is supposedly living at the top of this holy tower. He is a God of martial arts and is meant to give you access to some sacred water if you manage to climb all the way to the top.”

“What sacred water?”

“A sacred water that is supposed to multiply your strength by ten if you manage to take it from Karin... But truly, it’s the process of getting the water that makes you stronger, not the water itself.”

Tao ruminated, then focused on Yixing again.

“Why do we need to see this guy?”

“Because we need to get two Flying Nimbus from his stock,” Yixing enlightened.

There was a silence, in which Jongdae craned his neck to try to see the top of the tower, and Lu Han tapped his feet impatiently while leaning against it. At last, Tao looked up again:

“Okay, what’s a Flying-”

“Oh my God, we are losing time here as we speak,” Lu Han passed a hand over his face, before ruffling his hair: “Minseok, let’s go and start climbing already. We are never going to get to the top otherwise.”

“I personally think it’s _impossible_ to get to the top,” Jongdae mumbled absent-mindedly with his back still arched and jaw hanging open, “I absolutely hate to be the party pooper here, but have you seen how far this thing goes? It’s huge – I can’t see the top.”

“People have done it before though,” Lu Han informed him, “one of them took a whole day and night. Others …hmm, well...”

“We can’t compare with that, Lu Han. We’re just ordinary people,” Minseok cracked his knuckles with a frown.

But the other man shrugged and started to stretch his legs.

“We’ve got the serum going for us, no? It’s got to count for something.”

At this, Yifan gave him a joshing smile:

“And what happened to complaining about not being able to use your powers yesterday?”

“A man is not a man if he does not learn from his shortcomings,” Lu Han stuck his tongue out at him.

“You just want to impress Minseok.”

“Minseok doesn’t need me to climb a stupid tower to know my true value!” Lu Han retorted, looking at him for approval: “right?!”

“-Let’s go back to the main topic,” Minseok raised one hand, “I’ll give you guys the map,” he creased it into four and inserted it into Jongdae’s pouch. “You guys have the Dragon Radar too, so if Junmyeon and the others come back to this region, you can go and intercept them first.”

Soon, Tao folded his arms.

“When are we to assume that you guys are dead and won’t come back?”

“That is both an excellent and terribly creepy question, Tao; and the answer to that is: when we fall from somewhere up there and crack our heads open on the ground,” Minseok turned to him, “that’s when you know we’re dead.”

“Okay, and until then, we’re just supposed to wait here?”

“I doubt you guys will die,” Yifan commented confidently, strolling to stand by Yixing’s side, “take your time up there and don’t worry about us. The four of us will stay here to watch out for Junmyeon’s every move. You can count on us.”

Next to him, however, Yixing gave the tower a thorough examination, then smiled decisively and raised his hand.

“Actually, I’ll come with you two. I want to climb the tower as well.”

The other three frowned at him like he had just gone mad. Yifan’s smile had disappeared entirely.

“Don’t be unreasonable,” he spat, “you don’t have any powers yet. You are going to fall and die.”

“Don’t be so condescending, Yifan,” Yixing only repudiated, “as of now, Minseok and Lu Han are just as ordinary as me and we all have the same level of endurance. If they can attempt the climb, then so can I.”

“Yixing, I don’t even know if I actually can do telekinesis at all,” Lu Han scratched his head, “I can’t guarantee that I will catch you if you do happen to slip off the tower.”

“Well, then, that’ll be an additional incentive for me not to slip and fall,” Yixing shrugged, before tapping his own nose playfully with a wink, “I don’t need extra care, Lu Ge – I’m not a baby.”

“I know you’re not, but…”

“Besides, having some fresh air near the stratosphere would do me good, you know? To open my eyes to some new horizon, or something like that...”

Yifan narrowed his eyes, as if hearing something between the lines, and spun on his heels to take their bungalow out. As he clicked the capsule and tossed it under the shade of a gigantic pine tree, he gazed at Yixing without smiling:

“Alright. If you want to give it a try, go for it. Tao, Jongdae and I will be waiting here for you, then.”

“Ehh,” Jongdae seemed disappointed, “you’re letting him go just like that?” 

“He’s an adult. I’m not his legal guardian, or anything.”

“Seriously…”

“Great,” Yixing pumped his fists, and then grinned at Lu Han and Minseok, “then the three of us are a team, right? Let’s go!”

“Alright, we will,” Minseok scrutinized the tower uncertainly.

He tried to pump himself up with a huff full of resolve.

“If it’s the three of us, this tower won’t stand a chance!” he said.

*****

“…We’ve made a terrible mistake.”

Minseok was breathless. Beneath his feet, the boundless chasm gave him a headache, and above their heads stretched the seemingly infinite pillar piercing through the thick cumulus clouds. Clinging with all their might to the surface of the tower, they struggled to recuperate the strength to move forward.

“This is the worst…” Lu Han continued, soaked with sweat, “we’ve been climbing forever and there's no end in sight…this is the worst…”

“At least the grip is good…” Minseok panted just as weakly, face stuck to the strange material held between his arms. “All thanks to those…what are those – tribal decorations…?”

"How long do you think we've climbing for?"

"God knows...the sun's setting over there..." Lu Han mumbled, "so....a whole day?"

“I’m starving…” Yixing hummed, as his stomach growled. He blushed, “Sorry…”

“I’ve got sandwiches,” Minseok reached into his backpack. He tossed a small package in Yixing’s direction, “here.”

“Thank you.”

The younger man removed the aluminium wrapping with his teeth while, at the head of the queue, Lu Han tried to wipe his forehead’s sweat on his own shoulder.

“This is not feasible. If we don’t find a way to take a nap soon, we’re all going to crash and get smacked like crepes on the grass below…It’ll make a nice surprise for the other three tomorrow.”

“Hnm, about that, I just noticed, but,” Yixing remarked while chewing, “Lu Ge, you’re not scared of heights anymore? That’s pretty handy.”

There was a long silence, during which Lu Han stopped climbing, and Yixing patiently waited for the reply, exchanging a brief glance with Minseok before turning to the brunet above them. Then, out of the blue, Lu Han emitted a small, plaintive whimper.

The two of them paused.

“Uhh…Lu Han?”

“Unnnn…fuck.”

“L-Lu Han,” Minseok stopped, eyes growing round, “hold on a second.”

Yixing let out an uncertain laugh, “Lu Ge...you’re not going to tell me you didn’t realise…right?”

“I… I actually didn’t think about it…” Lu Han turned a pale and terrified face towards them, clammy with new-born fear, “…until now…”

Yixing shook his head violently, all at once.

“Whoa, whoa, Lu Ge, wait, don’t look down at the ground!”

“There _is_ no ground to look at! Fuck!”

“Don’t panic,” Minseok ordered, his fatigue temporarily forgotten to leave place to authoritative calm. “For the moment, focus on your hands, Lu Han. Do not think of letting go. Just hang on and take deep breaths in…Just take _deep_ , slow breaths in…”

“I can’t!” Lu Han screamed. “I’m wheezing!”

Below them, Yixing remained a little perplexed and awed:

“But this amazing... How can you forget your fear of heights for, like, _a full day_? It’s not like you didn’t look down at all during that time…”

“I-I-I don’t know, each time I looked down, I could only see your faces…so I…didn’t think about,” he looked at his hands, “oh my God. Shit, fuck, shit, fuck…”

“Lu Han.”

“Shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck-”

“He broke,” Yixing said.

Minseok shook his head. This was a problem they should have considered before stepping off the ground. He cautiously climbed up to Lu Han’s level to put a soothing hand on his shoulder, and the other man, thankfully, did nothing to push it away. As a matter of fact, with his whole body flattened against the surface of the tower, Lu Han didn’t look about to do anything.

“Shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shit-”

“Lu Han,” Minseok tried again, a bit louder this time, “hey, Lu Han.”

“…Please shut up. Shit, fuck.”

“Lu Han, you can’t stay here. We have to keep climbing.”

“There is no way in hell that I’m doing that!” the younger man yelled, “fuck!”

Yixing called out, his hand folded into a megaphone:

“Lu Ge, you can’t lose to your fear of heights now that we’re already that high above the ground. You are going to die!”

“What kind of heartless monster says that?” Lu Han roared, looking about to cry. “Jesus!”

He then gripped tighter to the ever-stretching tower, his teeth chattering in the wind:

“Fuck, this is the worst…” he whimpered, “w-we…we can’t see the bottom, w-we’re not half-way through…I can’t do this, I can’t.”

“Lu Han, you can’t stay here and wait, you’re going to fall-”

“Don’t talk to me about falling!” Lu Han opened wide eyes at last, his face had lost all colour, “what kind of stupid ass idea was it to come up here and ask for a Flying Nimbus. W-who needs a F-flying Nimbus? The Flying Nimbus can eat my ass-”

“Funny you should say that,” Yixing hummed, “I'm still starving...So what do we do? Should we try to climb back down while we can? Ask Yifan to call a rescue team, or-”

“There is no way I am going down from here by climbing!” Lu Han belted out, “ _no way_!”

“Calm down, Lu Ge, we’re not asking you to dive from here-”

“Honestly, the best way would be for us to continue upwards,” Minseok announced, “you hear me, Lu? I know it might sound crazy, but I think that’s the only solution to your current problem…We have to climb up to Karin’s sanctuary.”

“Climb upwards…?” the younger man threw a shy peek at the stretching tower above, and then the complete void surrounding them.

His features faltered and he squeezed the pillar tighter.

“Ohnonononononono, I am not moving from here.”

“ _Lu Ge_!”

“I’m sorry, alright?” Lu Han cried out, utterly terrified, “I was wrong. I’m not manly and I can’t climb this stupid tower! I need to get off this thing right this instant! Fuck the Flying Nimbus and Junmyeon!”

“Lu Han, you can’t just…suddenly _stop_!” Minseok insisted.

The brunet did not answer, refusing to look at him, and Minseok’s frown deepened. They were not even halfway through. He needed something to distract the younger man off his fear. Something. Anything.

“Lu Han, look at me.”

The younger man shuddered and kept his face obstinately turned to the opposite side, his legs shaking so much they looked about to give way. Worried, but scared of moving too brutally, Minseok brought one of his hands back towards his chest, and fixed all his attention on it.

He shifted and whispered as softly as he could:

“Hey, Lu Han…”

The other man did not reply.

“Lu Han, look at this.”

To his pleasant surprise, Lu Han strenuously turned his head, peering dubiously at the fingers next to his face, with trembling limbs. Minseok pursed his lips and concentrated on the pressure between his index and thumb, the strange tingling sensation fluttering between hot and cold, which gradually turned into a light and blossomed under Lu Han’s shocked eyes. Bit by bit, a cerulean glow took shape within Minseok’s hand and flourished into three petite lozenges of ice, shiny and delicate in his grasp. He smiled at Lu Han as the icicles danced in the air between them.

“Pretty, huh?”

The younger man gaped wordlessly at him, too astonished to remember anything about his fears.

They stared into each other’s eyes. Below them, Yixing suddenly cleared his throat.

“Not to ruin the atmosphere, or anything, but um…I’m still here.”

The two looked down at the younger man beneath them, who waved with an amused smile.

“Hi.”

“Minseok just used his powers,” Lu Han spluttered stupidly.

“Did you?” Yixing widened his eyes and climbed a little further up, “no way, can I see?”

“Well…yes, but I’d have to concentrate again.”

“How did you do it?” Lu Han seemed to find the usage of his tongue again, “w-when we were trying to move the car earlier, you said you couldn’t.”

“I don’t know, I just…” Minseok shook his head, “I just wanted something to distract you with, and the feeling came by itself. I can’t explain it.”

“Do you think you can do it again for something bigger?” Yixing asked.

“I don’t know…” the elder man thought about it, before tilting his head: “but why?”

Yixing beamed.

“To make us a seat so we can sleep.”

*****

Tao installed himself on the steps to the patio of the bungalow, and stared at the shadow of the tower raising through the sky and dominating the night. They had opted to remove themselves to a clearing further away from Karin’s Tower, in order to avoid disturbing the tribe that lived at its feet. Each morning, two of them still made the trek to the bottom of the pillar to check for Lu Han and the others’ return, but so far, there were neither good, nor bad news, so their days had stretched on rather uneventfully. Tao shifted a little to make himself comfortable and took out the Dragon Radar from his pocket.

Lu Han, Minseok and Yixing had been gone for seven days already.

“Hullo,” Jongdae suddenly appeared in his field of vision, a cup of hot chocolate in hand.

Tao blinked twice at him, eliciting a laugh out of him.

“Did I catch you off-guard?” he chuckled, and nodded at the Dragon Radar, “Sorry. I just wanted to check up on Junmyeon and company… What does the radar say?”

“It, uh…” Tao looked down at the device. “Well, Junmyeon and the others seem to be moving east with their three Dragon Balls... But they’ve stopped for the past two days.”

“Oh. I guess even a maniac like Junmyeon needs to rest, every so often,” Jongdae snorted, sitting next to him with naturel.

When Tao judged him wordlessly, the elder man smiled.

“What’s wrong?”

“You seem very…relaxed.”

“I’m on holidays,” the other man leered, “we all are. Might as well enjoy it while we can.”

“You know Minseok, Lu Han and Yixing are risking their lives right now.”

“Well, it’s not like you and I would have attempted the climb instead,” Jongdae snickered again, shoving at him with a playful nod.

“Aren’t you worried for them? It’s been seven days.”

“Yeah, seven days and counting that they haven’t fallen from up there,” Jongdae complemented, before softening a little, “Don’t worry too much about it. If they do die, we’ll catch up to Junmyeon and resuscitate them with the Dragon Balls.”

“ _Resuscitate_ them?”

“Mhm.”

Tao was about to frown in surprise at the idea, when Yifan’s shadow entered his periphery and concealed the moonlight from his eyes. He and Jongdae looked up the same time, and the latter, almost on cue, left the comfort of the stairs with a grin:

“I’m going to get myself something to nibble on. Don’t beat each other up while I’m gone...”

Tao watched him go with a tinge of confusion before letting his eyes focus on Yifan again, the former leader – _his_ former leader – looking more laidback than usual, in a black shirt and worn pair of jeans. He searched for something to say, when Yifan spoke up first.

“You mind if I check the Dragon Radar for a sec?”

He indulged, waiting without a sound while the elder man clicked on the device, as if nothing was wrong between them, and internally came to the same conclusions as he did. After a moment, Yifan offered a smile – oddly out of place, considering what lingered between them – and returned the detector to him.

“Thanks.”

“You could keep it,” Tao did not retrieve it right away, “I don’t need to look at it anymore.”

“Hmm, but it’s a hassle for me to hold on to it all the time. While Minseok is away, the radar would be in safe hands with you. Or am I wrong?”

He did not respond, wondering what Yifan was truly trying to achieve right now. But before he could process the puzzling feelings in his chest, the elder man rebutted his train of thought:

“I’m not trying to punish you for our old unresolved issues or anything. Don’t overthink and make things more complicated than they really are.”

“Well, you can’t blame me for overthinking when _you’re_ the one making everything sound this confusing,” Tao countered bitterly.

“What’s confusing?” Yifan sneered, “the fact that I’m talking to you? We can’t stay in our respective corners forever – with only six of us in total, that’d be quite hard to do.”

“And yet, you were the one who said you wouldn’t forgive me that easily.”

“You’re right. You flamed me on social media like I was some kind of witch for thinking of my own interests, and you sent me messages with wishes of failure and hopes that I’d be punished for what I did. Then, within a year, you ended up doing the same thing. I bear my grudges.”

Tao felt his cheeks heat up.

“I was hurt.”

“So was I.”

Tao closed his mouth, feeling more and more out of his depth by the minute, and not knowing how to reply. Yifan had always had a knack for this; for making him feel more inadequate and immature than he already did on his own. Even before his departure, before everything had started to crumble, he had always driven Tao out of his mind.

But Tao had had time to grow up since, to figure some things out about himself. He wasn’t proud of some things in his past. He was too emotional back then, and he might still be too emotional now. But he didn’t depend on Yifan anymore and he had more important things to think about.

“I didn’t come on this trip for the same reasons as you,” he said rather curtly.

“I think you actually did,” Yifan answered, and smiled again when Tao narrowed his eyes. “Listen, I have a question to ask you.”

“What question?”

“How do you do a solar plexus front kick, tiger style?”

Tao could not hide his surprise, watching as Yifan mimicked a poorly balanced kick with one leg. “Like this?” the elder man asked. And Tao could not contain his dismay any longer. He pulled himself up.

“No, it’s like this,” he demonstrated the correct move, then slowly simulated a frontal punch with his hand clenched into a claw, “with the tiger style, you can’t pull back after the hit. You have to move on straight through.”

“You can’t take a step back, then.”

“You can do a back-step kick,” Tao moved his leg back and then leisurely pretended to kick Yifan in the chest, without touching him, “but it’s not the point. The point of the tiger is to move forward without hesitation. No stepping around the bush. Your hands are claws, and you have to lead the fight on aggressively.”

“Like this?” Yifan curled his fingers, as if pressing some sort of imaginary sponge, and Tao chortled before he could stop himself.

“No. Now, you just look weird.”

“Don’t mock. I’m a new student...”

“Well, you’re a poor one.”

Hidden away by the wall of their bungalow, Jongdae peered at the scene and could not retain a smile of amusement.

“Old habits really do die hard,” he sighed to himself, before drinking a sip from his hot chocolate.

He found himself a comfortable spot, while the other two continued their impromptu kung fu lesson in the clearing. How funny a sight, after all that had happened between them. Jongdae wondered what the others from the K unit would think, if they saw this. He wondered if Junmyeon would feel a little better, or on the contrary, if he would welter in deeper pain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a chapter I quite enjoyed writing. In general, I find that I enjoy writing the M chapters a lot. 
> 
> The song rec for this chapter is an ending song from DBGT, called "Don't You See?" by ZARD. Incidentally, I discovered only this week that the vocalist of the song had passed away in 2007, when she was only 40. It's a song I have always found somewhat wistful and nostalgic, in spite of its rhythm, but now I find it twice as bittersweet. I vividly recommend it.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	9. A new sense of urgency

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that, in terms of continuity and timeline of the story, the first scene of this chapter actually happens after the second scene. But for better readability, I have put the first scene first.

_**9.** _

**_A new sense of urgency_ **

“Civilization, at last!” Baekhyun exclaimed, as he threw himself onto his hotel bed. “West City really is amazing.”

Jongin watched the elder man as he proceeded to roll himself into a blanket burrito, only to be tackled by Chanyeol and mercilessly beaten with a pillow. As the horseplay continued with increasing vigour, Junmyeon turned around on his desk chair and lowered his reading glasses angrily:

“Can you guys be quiet for a minute? I’m trying to study the map of the city, here. Do I need to remind you guys that we’re leaving this place as soon as we find the fourth Dragon Ball?”

The two rowdy ones only grabbed each other by the collar with more enthusiasm and almost rolled off the bed in their wild shenanigans. Jongin smiled apologetically.

“It’s useless talking to them,” he said as Baekhyun used the blanket to smother Chanyeol’s head. “They’re already in No Brains’ Land.”

“Why did I have to share a room with them? Seriously,” Junmyeon sighed with a hand on his forehead, “you pulled the lucky straw, Jongin – rooming with Sehun and Kyungsoo must be a nice, quiet breeze.”

“Well, I don’t really know. Sehun kicks the blanket a lot, and I don’t usually sleep next to Kyungsoo in the camping car... You do.”

“Oh, yes. I do share the couch with him,” Junmyeon yawned, pensively drumming on his nose with a pen, “he’s nice and quiet, most of the times… I just never knew that he was a hugger.”

“He is?” the younger man flushed.

“This time, you’re done for,” Chanyeol grinned with Baekhyun pinned underneath him, before raising the pillow high above his head. The bathroom door opened at the same time, and a naked Kyungsoo emerged with his crotch covered by a towel, looking absolutely livid. He aimed the shower head at the two perps on the bed, and wrathfully sprayed them with scorching water.

“Are you guys going to shut up, yes or no?!” he barked, as Chanyeol and Baekhyun burst into panicked yelps.

Junmyeon smacked a hand over his eyes in exasperation.

“Ah, well, I guess some things really can’t be helped,” he groaned, “Is Sehun still overtaking the bathroom in your own room?”

“Errr, yes, he is,” Jongin blinked, still staring at Kyungsoo, before shutting his eyes and shaking his head. “Anyways, I think I’m going to go back to my room and give Cleo and Piggy an update. I’ll tell her we’ve located the fourth Dragon Ball in West City and that we’re setting out tomorrow to get it.”

“Oh, that sounds good,” their leader hummed as he returned to the map in front of him, “the last time we contacted them was after leaving Old Lemur’s house, after all. It’d be nice to tell them where we are.”

“I’ll go and give them a call right now,” Jongin smiled and spun on his heels, “see you later.”

He returned to his own room a few moments later, listening to the incessant sound of falling water in the lavatory, as he grabbed their phone and dialled Piggy’s number. Sehun could be heard humming in the tub as he waited for the call to be connected, the younger man’s nasal voice bouncing off the bathroom walls, but Jongin ignored it and lightened up when Piggy picked up.

“Hey, Piggy, it’s us,” he greeted with a smile. “Jongin speaking.”

“Ohhh, hi Jongin,” the woman’s voice responded on the other end, through a wave of static, “I’m glad you called…So…rry for the noise…Riv…pl…ayed with the phone th–e oth…r day and ki–nd of br–oke the line...”

“Ah, well…that’s okay...”

“C–leo and I w…ere wondering when to update… you on what hap–pened, actually...”

“Update us on what happened?”

“Yes, tell …me... How’s it–t going… w–ith the Dragon B…all chase?”

“We’re half-way through,” Jongin assured, sitting on the floor beneath his bed as he pressed the receiver closer to his ear, “the six of us are in West City right now; we followed the indication of the radar, which pointed to us that the fourth Dragon Ball is in a bar. Hopefully, we’ll get it without too much trouble!”

“Well, th…at’s goo…d news...”

“More importantly, what was that about updating us on something?” he frowned. “Did something happen back in Mount Paozu?”

“Well, yes, we m– meant to t…ell y…ou: Your friends have… arrive–d , so… we alr…eady sent them…off over five wee–ks ago. They sh…ould be catching… up to you any day, now... Cleo gave them the serum – and we drop–ped them off …west of W…est City.”

“Wait…you – who? What?” Jongin froze, bamboozled.

He sat up straight, feeling at a complete loss as he stammered:

“Piggy. By our friends…who are you…?”

“Well, there were six– of them…,” she seemed to think, “t-two of whom took… the serum…Th…those were Lu Han… and …Minseok.”

“Lu-?!”

“The other four …were Yi– Yixing, Jongdae, T…ao and… Y – Yifan.”

“ _What_?!” Jongin yelled this time, jumping to his feet.

He reeled, a thousand thoughts running through his head at once, all of them sunk by a single word shooting across his mind:

What, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, _what_?

“That can’t be possible…” he spluttered. Yixing, Jongdae and Minseok coming after them by some kind of accident– yes, maybe. But Lu Han, Tao and Yifan _with them_? He shook his head:

“Piggy, are you sure you didn’t make a mistake somewhere? You’re a hundred percent sure that Yifan, Tao and Lu Han were part of the group?”

“Yes…of c…ourse! Y…ifa–n even wanted to repai…grandpa…D…ata’s truck b–efore lea…ving.”

“So…so you’re positive that there were _six_ of them.”

“Th– at’s what I’ve…b…een saying!”

“Holy shit…” Jongin passed a hand over his brow. All six of them. All six of EXO-M. It did not make sense…

What was Junmyeon going to think when he heard about that?

He had not realised that he was sweating until he touched the moist skin near his temple.

“We…g…ave them…a Dragon…R – adar…too.”

“You did?” he stuttered, “Pi– Piggy, you have to tell me, please: did those six tell you why they were here together? How did they arrive? Was it separately, by accident? Or…”

“No…th…ey came…together, of course! Th–they f…lew here…on…p…urpose to look for you.”

“They came together on purpose?” Jongin tilted his head.

Now it really didn’t make sense anymore.

“Oh G…od, Jon…gin…the receptio…n is reall…y awful. I’ll…up–date you…when…Cle…o repairs…the line. Is – that… ok– ay?”

“Ah, yes. Yes, of course. Um…take care in the meantime, Piggy. Thank you for telling me this.”

“B…ye bye,” she replied, “g…od luck!”

He lowered the phone and put it back down with his face still as pale as a ghost’s, in disbelief over what he had just heard. The door of the bathroom opened and he almost yelped in fear, jolting as he heard Sehun’s voice:

“What’s up?” the younger man came out in his T-shirt and boxers, “you look about to shit your pants.”

“Sehun. It’s…um…” he turned to face the other man with difficulty, “it’s EXO-M.”

Sehun instantly stilled. He gently dropped his towel onto the bed nearest to the bathroom door and frowned with misgivings: 

“What about them?”

“They’re coming after us. Piggy says they set off from Mount Paozu with a Dragon Radar…and um…um…there are six of them.”

Sehun opened his mouth, then closed it again. He drew back.

“There…” he shook his head, “what?”

“All six of them are coming.”

“How many?”

“I said, six.”

“Including Yifan, Lu Han…”

“All six of them.”

“And also…”

“Yes. _All six of them_ ,” Jongin insisted, growing impatient, “you’ve gone deaf or what?”

But Sehun only grabbed the book on the nearest night desk and flung it across the room, hitting him square on the face and drawing a cry out of him.

“What the hell is your problem?” he sat up, holding his nose, while Sehun stormed onto him and seized him by the front of his shirt:

“It’s not _funny_ ,” the younger man bellowed.

“It’s not a joke,” Jongin yelled back, somewhat indignant, though he had never seen Sehun look this furious in the past. “Piggy told me that they arrived together voluntarily, over five weeks ago, to Mount Paozu. God knows why, but somehow, Yifan, Lu Han and Tao decided that it would be a good idea to tag along and look for us... She says they should be catching up to us any day soon, now.”

“Are you sure? You swear this isn’t a prank?!” Sehun shook him.

“Of course it’s not! I’m just as shocked as you are!”

“And you said…” the younger man suddenly weakened, his gaze wavering a little, “you said Tao is coming as well.”

“Huh? Yes. Yes, it’s the six of them together. The original EXO-M, in short.”

Sehun watched him with a strange light in his eyes, as if ruminating about the idea, then suddenly tightened his clutch around Jongin and feverishly yanked him close to his face.

“Ow, what are you-”

“Don’t say a word of this to Junmyeon,” he said agitatedly, “don’t you _dare_ say a word, or he is never going to let it happen.”

“Huh? But we can’t keep such a huge thing a secret…”

“Did you not hear what I said?” Sehun shouted, “promise me you won’t tell him a word!”

“But I-”

Sehun promptly started to slap him across the face:

“Promise me!”

“Ow, what the-”

He picked up the book and repeatedly hit Jongin’s head with it: “Promise me!”

“Ow, okay, okay! Yes, I promise! Please stop, I promise!”

“…What are you guys doing?”

They turned at once, only to meet with Junmyeon’s figure in the doorway, who was studying them in profound consternation. He still held the map of West City in his left hand, one leg crossed over the other.

“W-we’re not doing anything,” Sehun affirmed.

“Did Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s immaturity get you too?”

“No, I just,” Jongin desperately searched for a benign thing to say, “I just called Piggy, and she told us not to call her for the moment being, because Riv broke the rooter. She’ll call back when it’s repaired…”

“Oh, I see,” Junmyeon trailed off, still scrutinizing them with a hint of doubt, “well, anyways. Try to quiet down and catch some sleep soon, okay? If tomorrow doesn’t work, we’ll have to relocate: Cleo and Piggy’s allowance won’t be enough for us to afford this hotel much longer…”

As soon as the door shut behind him, Jongin confronted Sehun’s thoughtful face again. The younger man seemed cautious and defiant at the same time.

“Sehun, why don’t you want to tell him? This is literally what he wants: EXO-M and EXO-K together!”

“I …I don’t think so,” Sehun lowered his voice, much meeker all of a sudden.

Jongin blinked at him.

“What, you think Joonmyun wouldn’t be happy to know they’re here after us?”

“It’s not just that…I mean…why do you think they came all the way to this universe? Doesn’t it seem weird to you to you that they came here all together?”

Jongin thought about it.

“Yeah. It’s hella weird.”

“Not to mention that they didn’t try to contact us via Piggy and Cleo when they were still in Mount Paozu... If they’d wanted to let us know that they were here after us, why couldn’t they have done so there, and waited for us?”

He struggled for a while before continuing: “I think they’re here for a reason. And whatever the reason is, they probably don’t want us to know that they’re coming.”

“But why not?”

“I don’t know, but above all, it doesn’t matter. If Junmyeon knows they’re on our tail, he’ll want to make sure we lose them…because they would never let him have his second wish, and he won’t let them have a say in the story. I don’t want this to happen.”

Jongin slowed down, taking in Sehun’s upset expression and the minute trembling of his hands. 

He remembered Junmyeon’s second wish now, and the conversation he’d had with Kyungsoo in the camping car. Part of him had concluded long ago that this wish had sprouted out of a momentary whim, that this feeling would disappear by the time they truly managed to gather the seven Dragon Balls and that time and self-reflection – as they always did – would make him move on. But perhaps, Sehun’s concerns were legitimate. Yifan’s departure had shocked everyone back then, but to Junmyeon, the hurt had evolved into something much deeper and more resentful. If Junmyeon was serious about his second wish, then…

… He’d probably not want EXO-M to catch up to them before they got the Dragon Balls.

“Alright, I won’t tell him,” Jongin muttered, prompting Sehun to exhale in relief, “but you know that the next time Piggy calls and anyone other than us picks up, it’ll be over.”

“I know.”

“And if they do catch up with us, it’ll get ugly between Junmyeon and those three. So, if you want to avoid conflict, telling them now or later doesn’t make a difference.”

“I know,” Sehun finally picked up his towel and started drying his hair, “I still think this is the best solution.”

“Do you want to see them again that much?”

The youngest member refused to reply. He simply frowned and headed back into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

*****

Minseok had been forging his one hundred and thirty-fifth stepladder of ice, when Lu Han finally hurled:

“Yo, I see the top! That is it, I _see the top_!”

Too drained, he didn’t bother to reply, but noticed that indeed, a sort of large cupola was starting to draw itself against the blue expanse above them, looking like two bowls clamped together. Yixing let out a choked laugh that resembled a sob:

“Oh, my God, finally…”

Arriving at the end of the last ladder, they crawled up the last thirty metres of the tower and lugged themselves up through the small openings of the flat cupola. The dome itself seemed to defy all laws of physics, large enough to fit an entire house, yet holding magically over the thin tower without any additional support. Its interior resembled an ordinary basement, a space full of stacked jars and sealed clay pots, with an exit leading to a thin staircase that ascended towards the superior level of the cupola.

Minseok crashed onto the floor, face first, and blew out like a bull.

“Minseok!” Lu Han bent over him worriedly, “shit. He used up all his energy to make ladders for us over the last few days…Shit. Shit. Shit.”

“No time to lose,” Yixing rubbed his back soothingly: “Come on, Lu Ge. We should get some water for him-”

“You can come up,” came a voice from the level above, “I’ll give you some water, since you made it all the way here.”

Lu Han and Yixing glanced at each other, then hauled Minseok up between themselves, throwing one arm over their respective shoulders. They climbed to the top of the staircase, and eventually entered the open space in the middle of the cupola, where the immortal hermit was waiting for them.

“Congratulations,” Karin said, whiskers twitching as he spoke to them, and his wooden cane in one paw, “my name is Karin, and you made it to the top of my tower in a total of nine days. You have thus earned yourselves the right to gain access to the sacred water.”

“We know it’s just tap water, Karin,” Lu Han admitted on the beat, “we just need some normal water for our friend, Minseok. He’s dehydrated and exhausted.”

“You know the…?” the feline hermit paused, then scrutinized them one by one, “I see. You guys aren’t from here. And you didn’t come to get stronger either… You just want my stock of Flying Nimbus.”

“You really can read thoughts?” Yixing smiled.

“Since you know it’s tap water, you can have it,” Karin replied calmly, and tossed the sacred water’s jar into Lu Han’s hands with his cane, “there’s no point in making you pass the test anymore. Have a senzu too.”

The hermit popped a green bean out from a jar nearby.

“It will put your friend back in shape.”

Yixing caught the bean thrown into his hands and let Lu Han feed Minseok with it, while the large cat took a few steps through the cupola: “Even though you’re here to take from my stock of Flying Nimbus, I can see that your wishes are pure; you did not climb up here with evil intentions.” 

“So, are you going to give us the Flying Nimbus instead of the sacred water, as a reward?” Yixing shone with hope, as Minseok finally felt his strength return. “We have three other friends who are waiting for us below the tower. If we could share two or three of your flying clouds...”

“Not so fast,” Karin responded, before pointing at them with his cane, “You cheated.”

The young men stopped, paling slightly.

“Huh?”

“You,” he poked Yixing, “and you,” he jabbed Lu Han, “would never have made it to the top of the tower had it not been for your friend’s help. His ability got rid of the danger of falling off from the tower, reduced the amount of physical effort needed to reach the top, and allowed you to sleep and drink. Consequently, he is the only one who has actually climbed to the top of the Karin Tower, and he’s the only one who’ll get a Flying Nimbus, if his heart is pure enough to ride it.”

They instantly gawped, Yixing exclaiming:

“That’s so harsh!”

“Yixing and I worked really hard too,” Lu Han defended. “It’s not like climbing for nine days is easy, even with ladders and shit.”

“You kept crying and yelling about wanting to go down.”

“I have vertigo!” he blushed.

Minseok tried to negotiate: “I wouldn’t have been able to use my abilities if it wasn’t thanks to teamwork...can’t you make an exception for us…?”

“No,” the hermit repudiated, “your abilities were exposed because of physical strain and effort – the will to help your friend out was only an extra incentive.”

“That fits with what Cleo said about our genes, actually,” Yixing blinked, taking a few sips from the water jar, “Cleo’s serum probably can’t unravel our powers from the get-go, but it reduces the amount of training we must do to get to the triggering level.”

“Well, that’s nice, but what do we do now?” Lu Han scratched his chin, sighing in discouragement, “Two Flying Nimbus was the bare minimum if we wanted to catch up to Junmyeon together. If we only get one, we won’t barely be able to fit all three of us on it, let alone Yifan, Tao and Jongdae.”

“Are your friends pure-hearted enough to ride a Flying Nimbus?”

“…No.”

“Then why are you even asking,” Karin frowned.

“There’s still a solution,” Yixing advanced, handing the jar to his friends, “if we get at least one Flying Nimbus, one of us can use it to fly to the neighbouring town with the broken truck and have it repaired there. Then, we can bring it back and leave together with the others.”

As they lingered on the platform, pondering over this option, the cat tapped his cane against the ground. A gigantic flock of yellow clouds reached the cupola, stationed like a gargantuan bus next to the tower.

“You should make up your mind. Anyone with an impure soul would fall right through the cloud, so whoever takes the Flying Nimbus to go to the neighbouring town has to be pure-hearted.”

“I’ll volunteer,” Lu Han finally said. “Minseok is exhausted. You two can take a rest.”

Karin picked a small one from the lot, and let it whizz past, only to stop before their eyes. Lu Han glanced at the canary cloud in front of him, puffy and fluffy like cotton candy. He hauled his body over the floating cloud, only to pass right through it and crash face first onto the ground. Yixing smacked a hand over his mouth while LuHan howled in pain.

Minseok was unable to hide his shock.

“L…Lu Han!”

“I passed through it,” the other man stammered in disbelief as he scrambled onto his hands and knees and stared at the cloud, “I passed through it…! Why did I pass through it?”

“Because your heart is impure,” Karin stated flatly.

“Why is it impure?” Lu Han exploded, “I just like football, singing and good food, I’ve never stolen in my life or committed any crimes, why am I not pure enough for this thing?”

Yixing thought about it deeply: “Could it be because you constantly have impure thoughts about Minseok?”

The elder man’s fist instantly collided with his skull, making him yap.

“Stop spreading utter nonsense,” he fumed, while Minseok rubbed his two temples in dismay.

Karin’s whiskers twitched: “A soul overfilled with lust cannot ride the Flying Nimbus.”

“I do not have a soul overfilled with lust!”

“You know, I have a better solution for you three to get back quickly to your friends, if you’re interested,” Karin suddenly pronounced, his face still impassive.

Lu Han, Yixing and Minseok paused.

“How?” they asked.

“You can stay here and train,” Karin illuminated, “until the three of you are capable of using the sky dancing technique.”

“The s…”

Yixing leaned forward in astonishment:

“You want to teach us how to fly?”

“As long as you can control the energy within you, anyone can learn how to sky dance.” 

Lu Han nudged Yixing in the ribs, making him turn.

“We should give it a try.”

“Why?”

“It would be fucking cool to fly.”

“If we could all fly, that would indeed save us a lot of trouble on the road later on,” Minseok said pensively. “I mean, if the truck breaks again, we wouldn’t have to lose time and money repairing it repeatedly.”

“What do you think of my offer, then?” Karin asked.

“It means Yifan, Jongdae and Tao will have to wait for us for much longer. But as long as Junmyeon isn’t close to finding all the Dragon Balls…”

They exchanged a look and nodded.

“We want to give it a try, Master Karin.”

*****

“They still haven’t come back,” Jongdae whined on the windowsill of their bungalow.

Yifan came out after him a few minutes later, offering him a packet of biscuits.

“No, thanks,” the younger man waved his hand, looking down at the Dragon Radar without vigour, “I’m too bored to be hungry. We’ve been loitering around for over a month, I’m starting to itch with ennui.”

Dawn was offering them poetic colours again. Today, it had taken a rosé shade, softened by wispy cirrus clouds.

“At least they’re not dead,” Yifan slipped in, finding himself a seat next to him, “we haven’t found any bodies down at the bottom of the tower. It means they’re still somewhere up there, climbing or taking their sweet time in Karin’s company.”

“No matter how you think about it, climbing for a month is physically impossible. You think maybe the serum worked on Lu Han and Minseok and they were able to find an easy way up?” Jongdae wondered without looking at anything in particular, “it’d be reassuring.”

Yifan did not reply right away, only assessing his companion wordlessly for a little while.

“So you _were_ worried, after all.”

“Huh?”

“You seemed particularly carefree whenever Tao was around you, so I thought you were feeling pretty confident that they would make it no matter what. But I guess you were just putting on a front to avoid worrying him.”

“Shhh! He could hear you– sheesh,” Jongdae put a finger over his mouth, cringing. He glanced inside the bungalow, checking that Tao was still sleeping, before continuing: “Of course I was. Tao tends to go into gloomy mode as soon as he feels anxious about something, so I thought it’d be better to act like it was a piece of cake…but damn, it’s Lu Han, Minseok and Yixing we’re talking about–not some superhuman. They’re climbing a tower that’s taller than the fucking Everest.”

“They’re not human in this universe. Neither are we.”

“So what? Alien or no alien genes, I still have the heart and education of an earthling, yo,” he cocked an eyebrow, “even if I accepted to follow you here on this crazy Dragon Ball chase, it doesn’t mean I have to find everything we’re doing to be normal.”

Yifan smirked.

“For someone who finds this idea crazy, you sure didn’t hesitate much before joining.”

Jongdae smiled, kicking the air at his feet. When Yifan spoke again, his tone had become uncharacteristically soft:

“Not feeling too homesick, are you? A lone sheep amongst big bad wolves.” 

“Big bad wolves, my ass,” Jongdae stuck out his tongue, “I am just considering it all as one huge throwback Thursday, that’s all.”

“A what.”

“You heard me,” he snickered, before it turned into a bittersweet smile, “one last adventure with you guys. It’s not so bad, when you think about it.”

At this, Yifan’s expression mellowed with a smidgeon of amusement, and he sealed the biscuit packet before staring at the shadow of Karin’s tower. Watching him, Jongdae wanted to be honest.

“Before you left, I was happy living in the present,” he admitted. “But after you took off like that, and when Lu Han and Tao followed…suddenly, it made me think, for a moment, like…damn. What about my future?”

“What about it?” Yifan cocked an eyebrow, “EXO is still successful.”

“But for how long?” he shrugged, “things change fast around the industry and you know it. I don’t know if you followed…”

“I did follow.”

Jongdae stared at him, then closed his eyes and continued:

“Well, if you followed, you’ll have noticed that we’re already not eliciting the same kind of international hype as we did back in our first three years. And we’re not earning nearly as much as you are right now.”

He took the biscuits away from Yifan and unzipped the bag, munching as he concluded:

“That’s why I followed you guys, I guess. Doing these crazy things gives me an excuse not to think about my worries for the time being. Maybe I should be thanking you for the ride?”

Yifan smiled at him. With one knee close to his chest, he nodded at Karin’s tower and let out a deep breath:

“Well, just so you know, I never expected things to turn out like this, when I first started talking with Professor Meng about finding Junmyeon…Initially, I would have just been satisfied with knowing that they were alive.”

“You said that Professor Meng was more interested about his theory on parallel universes than their lives, though.”

“That’s true, but it’s also because Professor Meng thinks he comes from a parallel universe himself,” the elder man clarified, when Jongdae’s eyes widened in surprise, “he told me his story when we were alone, once, before he finished his fortified plane... He woke up when he was around seven in a place he did not know, with no memory of who he was and how he got there. He was eventually sent to a foster home since there was no one who knew who he was and who his parents were. But now that he thinks back to it, he felt that it was probably because he had come from a different universe altogether. That’s why he has always been much more intelligent, quirky, and imaginative than his peers. That’s also why he felt like he never really belonged.”

“But…I thought… he said the inter-dimensional breach was a once-in-every-three-thousand-years phenomenon.”

“Yes, but that includes the direction of the breach,” Yifan said, “any breach can only go in one direction, right? That’s why we can’t return to our own universe the same way we came from. Assuming that Professor Meng originally came from _this_ universe, the seventh, then it could be that the breach he passed through was one that had been opened sixty to seventy years ago in this universe. It’d be closed now, of course, but it means that two breaches can open within three thousand years of each other, as long as they are in opposite directions.” 

Jongdae pondered for a moment, rubbing his chin, then frowned at Yifan.

“So that’s why Professor Meng was so enthusiastic about the idea of parallel universes being connected to one another. But that doesn’t explain why _you_ wanted to believe in that theory at all, in the beginning.”

Yifan thought about it.

“That’s my business.”

“Hey,” he frowned, “a little bit of trust would be nice. I just told you my own motivations.”

The elder man turned back to the scenery in front of him.

“As you probably realised, I’ve never been too big on sharing secrets,” he snickered softly, “But Yixing guessed, I think. Yixing guesses most of what I wouldn’t want him to know about myself, it’s kind of alarming, actually.”

Jongdae passed a hand through his hair with a sigh.

“Was that why he went up the tower, by any chance?”

“He knew I had some issues with Tao,” Yifan snorted, “and I would have stuck to him and neglected those if he was here, so he decided to take that possibility away from me... even if it meant risking his life stupidly on Karin’s tower, that idiot.”

“Ohh, don’t worry,” Jongdae snuffled, “what I was saying to Tao wasn’t just blind reassurance: if Yixing dies, we can always resuscitate him with the Dragon Balls, once Junmyeon finds all of them. He already has three so far, it’s only a matter of time before he gets the rest.”

“What if he can’t find the rest?”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“Well, one of the Dragon Balls could have sunk to the bottom of the sea,” Yifan gave as an example, impassive, “Cleo and Piggy did not give them a submarine. And what if one of the Dragon Balls was in a glacier; are they going to break through it? What if one sank into shifting sands?”

Jongdae drew an appalled frown.

“Yifan. You need to stop imagining the worst…it’s really disheartening.”

“I’m just being realistic.”

“No, you’re not. You’re being pessimistic. Last time I checked, Junmyeon was already heading towards the fourth Dragon Ball and was nearing it at high speed,” he turned the detector on, and shoved it in the elder man’s face, “there! See? There are already four Dragon Balls in the same vicinity!”

Yifan’s eyes travelled over the green screen for an excessive amount of time, gaze shifting from one spot on the radar to another, repeatedly, his expression unchanged. Jongdae watched his drifting gaze, and eventually cocked an eyebrow.

“What?”

“One of the Dragon Balls is moving by itself on the detector.”

“It’s what?” Jongdae brought the device back to himself, staring at it intensely. The elder man pointed at a red mark underneath the amalgamation of Dragon Balls in Junmyeon’s possession.

The red star was travelling by itself across the screen, diligently heading towards the north. It cut ahead of Junmyeon’s coordinates and apparently soared towards a sixth Dragon Ball on the left-hand side of the screen, closer to Karin’s tower. Jongdae scrunched his nose.

“Wha-”

“Did you see?” Yifan said seriously, “this Dragon Ball has been picked up by something.”

“You’re right…” Jongdae felt sweaty, now, as he followed the red star crossing the detector screen, “it’s moving really fast as well…an animal must have taken it with him into his mouth, or something.”

“No. Not an animal. With that speed, it’s either a train or a plane,” Yifan frowned, all amusement gone from his face, “moreover, it’s cutting straight across land towards that last Dragon Ball over here,” he paused, biting on his lips: “That can’t be a coincidence. It’s trying to get that other Dragon Ball for itself.”

Jongdae’s face turned pale.

“You mean…”

“Yes. There is someone else who is looking for the Dragon Balls, apart from Junmyeon’s group,” Yifan nodded. “But who that person is, we have no idea.”

“You think they realised?” Jongdae spluttered, “what if Junmyeon doesn’t know that someone else is trying to gather the Dragon Balls before them…they will-”

“Don’t panic,” the former leader instructed, lifting a hand to calm him down, “as of now, Junmyeon still has more Dragon Balls than that other person. Sooner or later, they are going to have to come face to face, and as long as Junmyeon has more Dragon Balls, he will have the upper hand in negotiations. Still, we need to catch up to his group as soon as possible to warn them about this.”

“How…?” Jongdae grimaced. “We’re still waiting for a functioning mean of transport.”

“We can only wait for Yixing, Lu Han and Minseok to be back from Karin’s as soon as possible,” Yifan admitted with clenched fists, and glanced at the tower’s shadow. “If only those three could hurry up.”

Jongdae followed the elder man’s gaze and placed the detector down in his lap, a sudden rush of unease creeping through him. They had no more time to lose now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Karin is the only DB character that actually makes an appearance in this fic, and he is a fairly minor character in canon. There is another character that will be referred to in name, but that's for later. And there will be no further appearance of canon characters. We are nearing the end of the first half! Thanks for reading!


	10. Wanted get-together

**_10._ **

**_Wanted get-together_ **

Sehun and Jongin were hiding something from him. Junmyeon had no doubts.

Ever since they’d left the hotel, the two hadn’t stopped casting conspicuous glances in his direction and whispering into each other’s ears. When he asked them what was the matter, they waved and blabbered disjointed phrases that had no connection to the current topic – or to each other, faces screaming ‘hiding secrets’ in capital letters and bright neon lights. In usual times, this – without more – would have called for a family meeting.

Tonight, though, Junmyeon had other priorities.

“Okay, so the Dragon Ball is in a bar,” he said, gaze shifting from the Dragon Radar to the insignia before them.

The placard shone in bright neon colors as big as Sehun and Jongin’s ‘hiding secrets’ one, framed by rainbow-colored lights.

A gay bar.

The six of them stood before the entrance, watching the steady flow of customers walking in and out of the beautiful lounge. Baekhyun smoothened his hair with one hand: “I don’t mind. As long as the drinks are good…”

“We’re not here to mingle,” Junmyeon declared categorically and pushed the door open, “the Dragon Ball is definitely somewhere in here – we’ll just find it, pick it up and go.”

“Won’t be that easy to find, though,” Chanyeol remarked. “Do you see much in this obscurity?”

The lights in the main lounge glowed a rich, but deep blue and the constant stream of people moving about in the area didn’t make it any easier to discern the useful from the superfluous. Still, Junmyeon ignored the remark and motioned for them to stay close as he followed the direction indicated by the Dragon Radar. As they walked past some of the animated tables, where couples were already starting to get chummy, Jongin dodged a waiter and pondered out loud: “I wonder what we’ll do if the Dragon Ball is in the hands of a customer...”

“Then, we’ll call Kyungsoo’s seduction skills to the rescue,” Baekhyun made a slithering motion with his arm, only to get hit in the ribs by the younger man, “ow, I was just kidding…”

“What does the Dragon Radar say?”

Junmyeon frowned and didn’t reply. He stopped after reaching a velvet curtain near the bar counter, which seemed to hide the way to an even more intimately lit corridor.

“What?” Sehun sniffled.

“The Dragon Radar points us there,” Junmyeon elucidated.

“That’s the private booth area, dear,” one of the bartenders informed them, “it’s fully booked tonight.”

“Is that so?” Baekhyun smiled, rubbing his neck, “tough luck for us. Thanks for letting us know.”

“What do we do, then?” Kyungsoo looked to Junmyeon for answers.

He tried to think of a solution, fast.

“I’ll go,” he said as quietly as possible over the music, “the rest of you stay here. I’ll be back in less than five.”

“Fine. I’ll come with you,” Kyungsoo instantly declared.

He gave the younger man a look, but did not ask for further explanations. Jongin and Sehun inspected their surroundings. “Should we, uh, take a table while waiting for you?”

“Why not.”

“I want a margarita,” Baekhyun yodelled.

“A floradora for me,” Chanyeol chanted in unison.

Junmyeon ignored them. He lifted the curtain instead, not willing to waste any more seconds than necessary, and delved into the intimate lights with Kyungsoo at his tail, the Dragon Radar continuing to beep as he moved, leading him towards the last room of the corridor full of private booths. He quickened the pace unconsciously, eager to get to destination, to get there fast...

But Kyungsoo stopped him just as he was about to open the door.

“What?” Junmyeon turned.

“You’re just going to walk in like that?” the other man groused. “There are guests in there –shouldn’t we think of something to say?”

“It’s not like we’ll ever see those people again – whoever they are and whatever they might be doing.”

Kyungsoo watched him in silence. The delay was starting to get on Junmyeon’s nerves.

“Is that why you wanted to accompany me,” he tried to joke, “to remind me how to be an upright citizen? You know I’m well-behaved when we’re at home, I’m just a little more flexible when it comes to the Dragon Balls.”

“I actually came in with you as safety precaution, because you’re the only one out of us who hasn’t been able to use his powers yet.”

The smile on Junmyeon’s face slowly vanished. He turned around with an offended look:

“Who said I can’t use my powers? I just messed it up the first time, and never had the opportunity to try it since.”

“I was there with you when Old Lemur said that some of us are ‘tormented’,” for some reason, Kyungsoo’s eyes were turning serious, “I know you well enough to know that he was talking about you at the time. He said that to use our abilities required inner focus. I take it as a sort of peace of mind.”

“That was months ago,” Junmyeon scowled, “I’m as peaceful as a mountain lake. And not everything that Old Lemur said is wise, we shouldn’t take his words as coming from the Bible.”

He placed his hand on the doorknob, but Kyungsoo blocked him again, his expression strangely closed off. In that instant, a shudder travelled down Junmyeon’s back against his will.

*****

Chanyeol reclined on the circular sofas of the main lounge. 

“Okay, so, now that the serious ones are not here,” he arched an eyebrow from behind his floradora, “can we talk about what the _hell_ you two are hiding, exactly?”

Sehun and Jongin jerked up in surprise. The younger of the two slammed his drink on the table.

“Who, us?”

“Yes, you,” Baekhyun concurred at once, sly smile splitting his face, “you haven’t stopped acting like a pair of thieves caught red-handed since yesterday evening. Confess now: What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Jongin shook his head.

“You ate the last slice of pear pie we got from Bobo and Boba’s village without telling us, didn’t you?”

“Absolutely not,” they stammered simultaneously.

“We’re just giddy about getting our fourth Dragon Ball, that’s all,” Jongin added, but Baekyhun bit on his straw.

“Hmmmm, I don’t think that’s all there is…”

“Don't think too much,” Sehun rebuked at last, feeling his cheeks burn up, “conspiracy theories are no good for you – they'll put too much strain on your little brain.”

“You can use condescension all you fucking want, but it doesn’t make you two any less suspicious.”

“…I wonder what Yixing, Minseok, and Jongdae are doing.”

“Don’t change the subject, either.”

“Well, Kyungsoo and I were talking about that before,” Jongin slipped in, desperately trying to throw in a bait, “it’s difficult to predict what the company would do in Minseok and Jongdae’s case, but for Yixing, we thought it’d be very plausible that he would focus on his activities in China …”

“Activities in China, huh,” Baekhyun stared blankly.

He remained silent for a minute and Sehun was about to rejoice – when the elder member chortled:

“Well, it’d just be like Yifan, Tao and Lu Han then.”

With a glare, Sehun stepped aggressively on Jongin’s foot, and the latter stifled a yell of pain into his palm.

*****

In front of the obstructed door, Junmyeon was slowly growing restless.

“What’s gotten into you now?” he complained, but the younger man was immovable, and a little resigned, too.

“I just think that there might not be a better time to confront you than now, after all.”

“ _Confront me_?”

“If you’re really as peaceful as you claim to be, then you shouldn’t be hoping for Kris, Lu Han and Tao to come back to the group.”

Junmyeon felt as if he’d been splashed by cold water.

“What? Is _that_ what your problem is?”

He straightened his back, facing the younger man, who did not reply. Junmyeon was genuinely mystified. Had Kyungsoo been brooding over this for all these months?

“We’ve already talked about the whole thing ages ago,” he said, “Shenron will ensure that they wouldn’t even remember about wanting to leave in the first place. I’ll formulate the wish in a way that doesn’t make them feel like they’ve been forced to come back.”

“It’s the idea that bothers me,” the other man shook his head, “The other four might not have given this as much thought – but _you_ , at least, should realize that this is morally wrong.”

“The way they left was morally wrong,” Junmyeon snapped, shrugging when the younger man widened his eyes, “It’s true: they broke their contracts and ditched the group without a warning.”

“Tao and Lu Han did tell us in advance and discuss with us…”

“But Yifan didn’t.”

 _And he started everything_ , Junmyeon wanted to add. Deceivingly lethargic and quiet, Yifan had single-handedly smashed their group’s unity; and ever since then, people found it normal to just ditch the group to make big bucks abroad without regret. It was a domino effect. Had he not pushed the first tile, the others wouldn’t have followed.

And thinking about it still got to Junmyeon’s head.

“Look, when we invoke Shenron,” he relaxed his shoulders and sighed, “we get three wishes, right? The way’s basically been paved for us: It would be a huge waste not to use one of the wishes for something like this.”

Kyungsoo looked thoroughly unimpressed: “I just don’t understand why you’re so fixated on bringing them back, out of all things. Did it really hurt you that much that they left without your consent?”

For some reason, this felt like a punch in the guts, and he had to take a breath, during which Kyungsoo seized the chance to continue:

“You’re right when you say that the way Kris left was wrong. He dumped us in the middle of concert preparations; he kept us in the dark and let us deal with the crap that came with his departure, without so much as an apology or a goodbye. But I also know that, when I was just put into this group and we were told that we’d have to do stuff in China in the future, knowing that he was there to help – that all of EXO-M was there – was one of the only reasons I didn’t piss my pants out of fright.”

Junmyeon understood what he meant. He really did.

“I understand,” he said, much calmer now. “They did good things in the past, and now they are moving on – that’s how it is.”

But the occasion was too precious to be thrown out of the window. They would never get a second chance at mending the errors of the past, never get another opportunity to repair what had been smashed. This entire journey wasn’t a coincidence. This couldn’t be the wrong choice – it just couldn’t be.

“Do you believe in fate, Kyungsoo?” he asked at last.

The other man opened his mouth, and then took a step back, not even bothering to hide his dismay:

“No.”

“There has to be a meaning that we’ve been tossed into the seventh universe to start with,” Junmyeon affirmed anyways, “and what could it possibly be, if not to give us a chance to start over? Yixing proved that it was possible all along to get a studio and have your own activities in China, despite being in the group. Those three didn’t have to leave, but they did, and because of that, not only is the whole group enduring setbacks, but Minseok and Jongdae are also seriously disadvantaged because they were in EXO-M – which is now close to non-existent. We wish the three of them back, and none of this has to happen. How many people get an opportunity to fix things like this in their lifetime?”

Kyungsoo’s eyes wavered slightly, though his tone was still defensive:

“You…you’re still messing with the right course of things.”

“What if this _was_ the right course of things?” Junmyeon retorted.

“Do you really believe that?”

“Yes!”

“Even though they could be happier with their current opportunities? Even though we could make do without them as we presently are?”

“Of course!” he raised his voice, smacking his fist against his palm, “twelve is stronger than nine! You don’t have to be a genius to see it!”

Kyungsoo shook his head, looking vaguely defeated and weary.

“You’re not facing yourself.”

Before Junmyeon could respond, the door to the private booth opened. A threatening man, as large as the entrance itself, appeared before them. Junmyeon and Kyungsoo instantly receded into the opposite wall:

“Sorry for the noise,” he chimed, eyes roaming over the man’s threatening figure, “w-we were just-”

The man only yanked both of them by the collar and into the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

A crimson sofa and coffee table crowned the spherical room, beneath a crystal chandelier. Junmyeon’s eyes fell to the ground, where a fallen dragon statue was holding the Si Xing Qiu in its mouth, and wine was trickling onto the carpet. Then, he looked up again, only to see one terrified plump man pinned to the table, both hands above his head, and held at gunpoint by a lanky bandit with purple hair and a golden necklace. The room was filled by tattooed bodyguards.

Laying on their stomachs, Kyungsoo and Junmyeon tried to digest the scene.

“Uhhhh….”

The purple-haired bandit slowly aimed his gun at them.

“Were you two rats spying on the mighty Raz?”

“Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wait!!” Junmyeon and Kyungsoo screamed. 

*****

“Well, now that we’re halfway through our Dragon Ball quest, I guess it’s less of an empty talk,” Baekhyun yawned, “if Junmyeon _really_ decides to wish those three back, I wonder how we’d formulate it in a way that works, really.”

Jongin and Sehun looked up, the latter slowly leaning forward, hopeful against his better judgment.

“Don’t you think we should talk him out of it?”

“A wonderful question,” Baekhyun teased, “Should we? I mean, it’s not exactly bad for our business to get them back...”

“Please write an essay about the ethical implications of bringing your former bandmates back to the group after they literally filed a lawsuit to leave,” Chanyeol derided while stirring his drink, “over 9,000 words without references.”

“Seriously, though,” Jongin blinked, “do you think we should _do_ something? Because…I mean…it is like you just said. They filed a lawsuit to leave; we could be forcing them to do something that they have no intention of doing-”

“I guess Shenron can fix that for us,” Chanyeol meditated, cracking a peanut open, “if they’re ultimately okay with the whole ordeal, I don’t think it’s that much of a bad thing to do. And at the end of the day, it’d be nice to have their help in breaking through the Chinese market.”

Sehun swallowed, feeling gutted. His hands fell into his lap as he sat up.

“Dude…!” he dropped.

“Hmm?” Chanyeol glanced back at Baekhyun. “What did I say?”

“You said it’d be nice to have their help in breaking through the Chinese market.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” the other man furrowed his eyebrows, turning back to Sehun, “you do know they’re Chinese, right?”

“That’s not the issue,” he faltered, “it’s just…they’re...”

“I know, I know...,” Baekhyun finished his thoughts with benevolent grin, “Look, everyone agrees with you, Hunnie Hun.”

He leaned over to put one arm around Sehun’s shoulder:

“Obviously, if it were up to us, we would just leave it up to God, or whatever, and no one would be minding anyone else’s business. Yifan and friends could just continue to make their movies and fortune and whatever gig they’re doing...but we have to be realistic, here. Looking at how things are going, said Yifan and friends would have to be coming here after us and _fight_ the Dragon Balls out of Junmyeon’s hands to have a say in this.”

Sehun choked on his saliva, and Jongin started wringing his hands, growing green in the face:

“Ummm.”

“So…unless they do come here to pick a fight,” Baekhyun reclined, “we can assume that Junmyeon will get his way. Correct?”

“I wonder if those three even heard about our disappearance to start with,” Chanyeol mused. “Do you reckon they even felt something, if they did?”

“I don’t know. Sehun, what do you think?”

“W-why me?”

“Well, you were the closest with Tao. Back in the days, you two were like peas in a pod,” the other man smiled, “what do you figure Tao would think?”

“Why do you assume that I’d know, I barely kept touch,” Sehun spat, “besides, even if I did I wouldn’t know how he thinks– dimwit.”

“Whoa, whoa, no need to get all defensive,” Baekhyun blinked, leaning forward, “bizarre, I’d have thought that out of all of us, you’d be the happiest to see them again. You did always have a soft spot for our team the way it was at the start, after all.”

Punched in the stomach, Sehun stared down at the bottom of his drink, voice waning against his will.

“Don’t you?”

“Ehh, maybe,” Baekhyun cackled.

Though his eyes still sparkled with mischief, he seemed a little warmer and wistful now.

“Probably not like you did. Sometimes, when Tao cried about fucking spiders, I just wanted to smack his face against the fridge," He sat back and sighed: “But I’ll admit, this trip does make one think.”

Chanyeol stirred his floradora without a word.

At the same time, a huge banging sound was heard coming from the private booths, making all four of them scramble to their feet, ready to fight. A dim rumbling sound followed the first ruckus, accompanied by the shaking of floors and walls, as if the establishment was ready to burst.

“What’s happening?” Jongin wondered.

An explosion banged through the walls, and the second next, Junmyeon and Kyungsoo came into view, tearing the curtains down, their clothes half-shredded. The guests scattered with yelps of fright, taking their drinks with them as they muffled curses.

“B-B-aekhyun!” their leader bellowed, “th-th-the…use…use the…!”

“Do you have the Dragon Ball?” Sehun frowned.

Seconds later, a bunch of armed men appeared behind Junmyeon and Kyungsoo, looking livid. In the lead, with murder in his eyes, a slender man with purple hair and a feather coat screamed his lungs out:

“Come back here, you rats!”

Sehun and Baekhyun shrieked in fear at the pistol in his hand, and Kyungsoo’s yelled louder at Baekhyun:

“Use the solar flare!”

“Th-the …huh?”

“The SOLAR FLARE!”

“R-right!” Baekhyun opened up his palms and shut his own eyes. At once, the whole bar drowned in piercing sunlight, and Kyungsoo and Junmyeon came hurtling into his arm.

“Let’s just get out of here!” their leader rasped, pushing them forward.

They scrambled out of the bar, hearing the furious shouts of the gangsters booming behind their backs:

“You dare spy on the mighty Raz?! I’ll put a hole through your heads!”

Sehun did not look back. He discarded his margarita, and the bar, and all thoughts of Tao, Kris and Lu Han as he followed the others into the night.

They only dared to stop running five minutes later, after crossing three boulevards and veering into a tortuous street away from the largest plazas. Still bathing in the sea of city lights, with the rustling of flying cars above their heads, the six idols collapsed into the alleyway, breathless. Chanyeol was the first to rise.

“So, did you get the Dragon Ball?”

Junmyeon took out his hand from his pocket, triumphantly holding the Dragon Ball with four stars against the colourful backdrop of round city buildings. The others gave him a relieved sigh.

“Who were those guys running after you?” Jongin wheezed. “Why did they have guns and everything?”

“I think it was a bunch of ruffians from some underground organization,” Kyungsoo coughed, shaking sweat out of his hair, “they were using the bar to make underhand deals. We barged into the middle of one and they thought we were spying.”

“Talk about bad luck,” Sehun scoffed, leaning against the wall.

“As long as they didn’t want the Dragon Ball for themselves...”

“Pfft, they didn’t even know it existed,” Junmyeon dried his brow. “I’m glad we’re finally done with this city. It was starting to get to my head.”

Baekhyun blinked.

“Why? I liked it quite a bit.”

“No, I agree, it’s giving me a headache,” Kyungsoo mumbled as he stood up. “Let’s see where the fifth Dragon Ball is and set off right away.”

“Are you two okay?” Jongin asked. “You seem, er…”

“We’re fine,” Junmyeon declared rather curtly, “Chanyeol, what does the radar say?”

“Well, the next Dragon Ball is situated a hundred kilometres from here, near the sea,” the other man remarked. “Should we set off right now?”

“Yes, the sooner we are done with this one, the sooner we can move on to the next,” Junmyeon’s expression was oddly sombre, refusing to look Kyungsoo in the eye, “Let’s finish this chase before the end of spring.”

Sehun and Jongin stood at the back, looking at each other. As they left, Jongin gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder, and Sehun waited for the rest to disappear around the corner, before glancing at the starry skies above them.

He wondered if he possibly wished for it too, in a corner of his heart. The team as it originally was.

Not daring to face those thoughts, he sighed, dug deep into his pockets and walked out of the alley listlessly, following the path taken by the others. If only Yifan’s group could catch up with them already…

*****

“T-there!” Jongdae screamed, pointing at the sky, “th-they’re coming back!”

Yifan and Tao lifted their heads at the tower, and shouted with relief when they saw three dots shooting down from the sky, soaring in their direction. Yifan wanted to thank the Gods, until he realised that the three people coming their way were not sitting on flying clouds as he expected. Rather, they were floating in the air, flying on their own.

“Yoo-hoo!” Lu Han waved cheerfully, “Yifan! Jongdae! Tao!”

“We’re back!” Yixing seconded his chant, twirling in the air like a cherub.

They braked in mid-air above Yifan’s head, lifting a layer of sand in their wake. Next to him, Tao’s jaw looked about to drop onto the ground.

“What the fuck is this?” Yifan stammered, gobsmacked, “wh-why are you guys flying?”

“Master Karin taught us,” Lu Han sniggered.

“It’s a long story,” Minseok laughed with embarrassment, “but basically, my powers activated on the first day of the climb, and thanks to them, we managed to facilitate our ascension by a lot, so we made it in nine days.”

“Then why were you up there for so long?” Jongdae fretted, “it’s already been a month and a half!”

“Why are you panicking?”

“We were up there learning the sky dancing technique,” Lu Han elucidated with pride, “as it turned out, Master Karin wouldn’t give us more than one cloud because according to him, the fact that Minseok used his powers to get us up there meant that Yixing and I cheated.”

“So as a result, he taught us how to control our energy and fly,” Yixing concluded, “now, even Lu Han can use his Gleese powers, and you were right, Yifan. It really is telekinesis.”

“It doesn’t matter whether I’m right or not,” the other man fumbled for words, “you were supposed to negotiate for Flying Nimbuses for all of us!”

“Well, we thought about it and none of you would be able to use it. Your hearts aren’t pure enough.”

“Huh?” Tao and Yifan were outraged, but Jongdae shook his head: “That’s really bad! If you have to carry us all the way, we are never going to make it in time!”

“Why are you in such a rush,” Lu Han blinked, still floating, “is Junmyeon already close to gathering all the Dragon Balls or what?”

“No, but look at this.”

They handed over the Dragon Radar and let the three examine it, while Yifan enlightened them:

“There are two Dragon Balls near one another on the edge of the screen, north of where we are, correct? That’s because someone _other_ than Junmyeon is gathering Dragon Balls... If we don’t catch up with them fast enough, they will be going head to head with this other entity, and we don’t know what could happen then.”

Lu Han, Yixing and Minseok looked dumbfounded.

“Someone else is looking for the Dragon Balls, but…”

“Do you know who it is?”

“We don’t have a single clue,” Tao bit on his nails, “but apparently, they’re moving extremely quickly. They reached the whereabouts of the second Dragon Ball in no less than a day, even though they came from the other side of the globe.”

“They’ve stopped moving for a while now, so it could be that the Dragon Ball is well hidden and they haven’t managed to dig it up yet. But we need to hurry.”

“Shit,” Lu Han felt the wave of urgency catch up on him for the first time. “What do we do? Do we head for Junmyeon first?”

“No,” Yifan was adamant, “we’re closer to this other person than we are to Junmyeon. Our best shot is to fly to where the two Dragon Balls are, investigate the situation, and hope to intercept them there.”

“Then, what are we waiting for?” Lu Han urged, opening his arms and motioning for them to come, “quick! Let’s set off!”

*****

The fifth Dragon Ball had sunk deep into a beach over a hundred kilometres away from West City. It had taken all six of them to dig their way to the artefact and pull it out from the sand. With the Yi Xing Qiu stored safely in Chanyeol’s pouch, Junmyeon opened the Dragon Radar to decide their next course of action.

“This is extremely bizarre,” he said with a frown.

“What is?”

“The last two Dragon Balls are in the same vicinity,” he explained, unfolding their world map over a boulder nearby, “according to our map, they’re both in these deserted lands called Yunzabit Heights, at the far north east end of the globe…and they definitely weren’t together before.”

Kyungsoo walked closer, looking over his shoulder.

“Are they moving?”

“Nope. Not at all. They’re not exactly together, either… Just, in the same vicinity.”

“That’s…bizzare,” Baekhyun murmured.

“Not so bizarre, when you think of it,” Chanyeol shrugged, “have you seen the sheer number of dinosaurs we’ve seen during the time we spent in this world? One of them could have picked up a Dragon Ball, flown to Yunzabit Heights, and then discarded it there.”

“It’s actually making our job easier for us,” Junmyeon noted, putting their digging apparel back into their capsules, “very well. The priority is to get to Yunzabit Heights, then. Do we have enough money to buy carburant?”

“Probably enough for one trip,” Jongin nodded.

“We’ll call Piggy and Cleo when this is over,” he stood up. “Let’s go.”

*****

“Go faster!”

“I’m already at maximum speed!” Lu Han shouted.

“That’s not fast enough,” Yifan retorted in his grasp, carried in the air by the armpits. “You need to fly faster!”

Lu Han was about to pop a vein: “Then fly by yourself! Geez, why did I have to end up with you?”

“We’re not going to make it in time,” Minseok panted, holding Tao in his arms as they soared above a highway.

Held by Yixing, Jongdae freed one hand to check the Dragon Radar again.

“They are already past our previous location and are closing in on the sea. It’s okay, they’ll have to take a boat if they want to arrive at Yunzabit Heights, but if we don’t reach the coast soon, we’ll arrive too late.”

“I don’t think I can fly over the sea if we don’t catch a bit of rest soon,” Minseok struggled.

Lu Han looked below them, honing in on a gas station by the side of the road.

“There,” he screamed, “that sports car over there!”

Before the others could protest, he had already gained speed, dragging Yifan with him towards the gas station. Minseok blinked:

“Lu Han!”

He landed before the driver of the sports car, who spun around with a defiant look. The man wore a feather coat, with purple hair and a thick golden chain around the neck. As soon as the group descended, he pulled out a shiny gun, and six or seven bodyguards came out to pool behind him.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“No one special,” Lu Han opened his hand, “but we need your car. You can pick it up at the beach later.”

“You dare steal from the mighty Raz?” the other man pulled the safety catch of his pistol, and Lu Han thrust his palm at him.

At once, the driver and his bodyguards were expelled into the side of the station by an intangible force, crashing into the glass with a deafening sound. Yixing covered his mouth, while Lu Han bent down to retrieve the car keys.

“Thank the Lord that he wanted to kill me, otherwise I’d feel bad about this,” he grunted as he took a seat behind the steering wheel, “yo, get in!”

The sports car roared its way onto the road, soaring above the ground while Yifan collapsed into the backseat, wiping his sweat with a feverish hand.

“You’re incorrigible,” he muttered to Lu Han, “and a public hazard.”

Lu Han only sneered: “But you’re glad to have me on the team?”

“I’m not sure.”

“At least, you were very manly,” Yixing assured, placing comforting hands on his shoulders.

The car thundered ahead, resonating with Jongdae’s cackles. 

*****

Yunzabit Heights was a desolate place.

With the wind snarling in his ears, his thin jacket flapping miserably against his skin, Junmyeon felt almost incapable of pulling a hand out of his pocket. Around them, the maze of sharp cliffs and elevated rock towers kept their vision narrow and limited. The sky hid itself behind dark, hefty cumulonimbus clouds, warning them of the arrival of a tempest they would rather not face.

At the back of the line, Baekhyun and Chanyeol huddled close to one another, their teeth chattering furiously.

“Are we there yet?”

“Not yet, but soon,” Junmyeon stuttered, unable to keep his own lips from quivering in the biting cold.

Sehun was blowing pitifully on his hands, until Chanyeol brought him closer to him and wrapped him in his jacket. Jongin shielded his eyes from the endless gusts and shouted through their howls:

“If we’re not careful, we might get lost.”

“That doesn’t matter,” their leader shook his head, “as soon as we have the Dragon Balls, we’ll ask Shenron to send us back to our universe, and it’ll be all over like a bad dream…”

“You can’t,” Baekhyun reminded him, “we still need to return the capsules to Piggy and Cleo.”

Junmyeon paused at the thought. Of course, as eager as he was to get back, they would have to first return to Mount Paozu. He had forgotten that. Suddenly, Kyungsoo placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Stop,” the younger man said, wincing in the cold, “I just felt something.”

“Felt what?”

Kyungsoo didn’t speak. He was staring at the side of a huge cliffside, which blocked their view to the horizon behind it. The Dragon Radar beeped steadily, pointing them in the same direction. The younger man narrowed his eyes.

“There’s someone there.”

Junmyeon wasn’t the only one to gape at those words. Chanyeol and Baekhyun looked just as astounded, while Sehun and Jongin turned green, strangely mortified.

“Um,” the youngest started.

But Junmyeon could feel it too now, when he concentrated. A presence. A powerful and disconcerting presence, behind the cliffside, where the Dragon Radar was directing them.

“There really is someone,” he whispered tensely. “I can feel it too.”

Kyungsoo’s grip on his forearm tightened and they took a few steps back, measuring their prospects. Baekhyun pursed his lips as the wind raged on.

“What do we do?”

“We have to continue. We don’t know if that presence is hostile, after all. It could be a simple tourist.”

“A tourist in Yunzabit Heights?” Jongin sounded doubtful, “and um. Sorry to say, but this is not an ordinary aura…”

“No,” Junmyeon conceded, “it isn’t.”

They waited, searching each other’s eyes for encouragement.

“What if it’s someone with the Dragon Ball?” Baekhyun didn’t bother hiding his concern anymore. “The detector is pointing at two Dragon Balls in the same vicinity. It could be another collector.”

“Then, we’ll just negotiate,” Junmyeon retorted, craning his neck, “Chanyeol?”

“Yeah?”

“Hide the pouch with the Dragon Balls behind a rock over there. Just to be safe.”

The younger man charred a hole into the ground. Only once he was satisfied that the Dragon Balls were out of view did Junmyeon nod at the group and move step by step towards the cliff, braving the wind. He led their path, carefully, moving past the sharp wall of rocks and into a closed clearing of jilted land. The area was encircled by huge cliffs, creating a dead end. Glimmering despite the dust swirling around them, the Dragon Ball with seven stars waited for them in the middle of the enclosure.

Thunder clapped in the distance. Junmyeon frowned at the Dragon Ball, the beeping sounds of their radar still resonating in his ears.

“Only one?” Jongin furrowed his eyebrows, “but the Dragon Radar said…”

“Look out!” Kyungsoo yelled.

At the same time, something seared Junmyeon’s cheek like an arrow and he was thrown back by Chanyeol, the taller man shielding him from an invisible attack. They rolled on the ground, and only then the sound resounded clearly amidst the storm. Lasers were being shot at them from above. He heard a yelp and saw Sehun fall against the cliffside, holding his stomach.

“Sehun!” he shouted.

A series of unsettling laughs brought his attention back to the cliffs, above which shadows had emerged, lanky and eerie. They jumped off the cliff before Junmyeon could get back to his feet, at least fifteen or twenty white figures with elongated faces and yellow eyes, clad in glistening armour. In their hands gleamed weapons that looked like sleek machine guns.

“A…Aliens?” Baekhyun gulped. They left a trail of white dust behind them as they walked, clawed feet spread like deep sea creatures. Kyungsoo put his hand to the ground, ready to engulf them in an earthquake, when one of the monsters appeared out of nowhere and sent him flying.

“Kyungsoo!” Jongin looked horrified.

Flabbergasted, Junmyeon peered into the darkness over their heads. A spacecraft was stationed over there, which they hadn’t noticed before. A white creature then fell before him, smiling and speaking in a thin voice when their eyes met:

“So finally, we meet. Took you lot long enough to gather the rest.”

“W-who are you?” Junmyeon stammered.

The creature struck a pose, eyes twinkling in the wind:

“Lieutenant Suu, elite force of General Satoh.”

Chanyeol attempted to blast the creature away with fire, but the creature dissolved like dust, reappearing behind Chanyeol and subduing him with a powerful kick to the shin, which drew a scream of pain out of him. He then stepped on his wrist, his other foot on his back, all the while staring at Junmyeon:

“The Dragon Balls you found...where are they?”

Junmyeon threw a punch, but the monster faded like dust again, only to recompose behind him and grab him by the hair. It repeated, softer than ever, with a clawed hand placed against his throat:

“I’ll ask you again. Where are the Dragon Balls?”

Fear took the better of Junmyeon – for the first time.

*****

Yifan had slowed his group down as soon as he’d heard the thundering of rocks being shattered nearby. Bumping into his back, Tao was the first one to stop entirely, so pale that he looked about to faint:

“What the hell was that?”

“I heard screams,” Minseok murmured with dread.

The eldest floated up, trying to get an aerial view from above the cliffs, when Yifan called him back:

“Don’t! You’ll get spotted.”

“It’s clearly Junmyeon and the others,” Minseok countered anyways, “there’s no doubt about it. They’re in trouble.”

The sounds of fighting and screams of agony only got more alarming as the second ticked past. Clenching his fists, Lu Han marched forward:

“Fuck it.”

“Where are you going?” Yifan forced him to stop, “we don’t know what they’re up against.”

“They’re dying,” Lu Han reminded him. “We can’t let them die.”

“But we’ll get killed if we just go like this.”

Lu Han braked at those words, hesitant. And Yixing panicked:

“If we don’t go now, it’ll be too late!”

The cliffs of Yunzabit Heights howled with the wind. Yifan wasn’t sure what to say. Junmyeon and his group must have arrived earlier, despite their best efforts, and must have run into the other collectors they were worried about. From the sound of it, these people were numerous, and stronger than Junmyeon’s group, too. They arrived late, that was for sure. But whether they were too late to do anything was another story.

“They’re only a dozen metres up ahead,” Jongdae explained, looking down at their Dragon Radar, “five Dragon Balls are together, and the two others are very close by too.”

“Approach slowly,” Yifan ordered, placing a finger over his own mouth and motioning for them to be quiet, “be as discreet as possible. If we’re discovered, it’s over.”

He breathed, one pacifying hand still raised to try and soothe the anguish in their eyes:

“We need to understand the situation before acting.”

The group nodded. They advanced stealthily among the rocks, and as they neared the edge of a cliff, Minseok froze, just as a body hit the ground a few metres away from him. He stifled a gasp and hid. With messy hair over his face, a familiar figure was now mustering all his strength to get up, though a disformed white foot kept him down by stomping on his head.

“It’s Chanyeol,” Lu Han whispered urgently, only to get muffled by Minseok.

“You guys are resistant, for a bunch of earthlings,” Chanyeol’s aggressor declared. “But it’s a pointless struggle. Surrender and we won’t kill you.”

Minseok and Lu Han retreated behind a boulder, peeking through the space between the rock and the façade of the cliff, which gave them a limited view into the battlefield. A troop of white creatures were firing lasers at Junmyeon and the rest, making them fall one by one. At the sight, Jongdae almost dropped the Dragon Radar:

“Hey, uh,” he gawked, “no offence, but those are fucking _aliens_. What the fuck?”

“Whether or not you tell us where they are,” one creature stooped closer to Junmyeon, who was splattered on the ground, “we’ll find them eventually.”

Yifan’s heart flipped in his chest. He glanced down at the detector in Jongdae’s hands, then furiously searched around their hideout, lifting rocks and pebbles angrily, until Minseok frowned at him:

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for the Dragon Balls,” he murmured feverishly, “judging by the situation, Junmyeon must have hidden them somewhere…Here!”

In a hole on the ground, an orange waist pouch unveiled itself, and as soon as Yifan pulled the zipper open, the Dragon Balls threatened to fall out. He seized the Dragon Ball with four stars and shoved it into his own jacket, then closed the bag again.

“Lieutenant Suu,” one of the creatures notified his comrade, who was still holding Junmyeon up by the hair. “Our ship indicates that the five Dragon Balls collected by these humans are hidden behind that rock, over there.”

Junmyeon emitted a low sound of protest, but his assailant only laughed, dropping him. He struck a triumphant pose, finger in the air, before grinning villainously.

“Very well.”

The creature headed towards Yifan’s location with a smile, abandoning the collapsed Junmyeon, who was left coughing on the ground. In a panic, Lu Han yanked Yifan backwards until they were fully dissimulated by the shadow of a bigger rock. The creature bent down where Yifan had been squatting only a few seconds before. He picked up Chanyeol’s pouch, and opened it just a slither, grinning when he saw the smooth glow of a Dragon Ball inside.

“Perfect,” he declared, closing the pouch and tossing it in the direction of one of his men, “General Satoh will be very happy with our work.”

The other aliens sniggered, seemingly proud of themselves, and lieutenant Suu struck another pose of victory.

“Let’s go home.”

“Yes.”

As soon as he said those words, the elongated spaceship above the cliffs began to move and the legion of creatures gathered themselves beneath its lights. They dispersed, like sugar in the wind, and the ship left the earth with a zapping sound.

Against a boulder in the corner of the battlefield, Jongin, who was catering to Sehun, stared at the empty cliffs with horrified eyes.

“They did it…They took the Dragon Balls…”

“No!” Junmyeon sat up, wrathfully hitting the ground, “no, no, no!”

With his fists clenched, Yifan sprung out of their hideout along with the others and pointed in the direction taken by the spacecraft:

“Quick!” he shouted with unhidden haste at Junmyeon who turned to him in shock, “use the spaceship that Cleo gave you so we can follow them!”

Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun who were on the floor, openly gawked at him, and Sehun, who until now was holding onto Jongin, suddenly let himself fall to the ground, face drained of all color. On his knees, Junmyeon didn’t budge. He seemed frozen in time, his eyes fixated on Yifan, hands limp…and for one reason or another, Yifan could not break eye contact with him. Against this relic of his past, he suddenly could not muster the courage to break himself free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got such a kick out of writing last few paragraphs of this chapter, for obvious reasons. The reunion at last. If we had to think of this fic in terms of story arcs, this would definitely be the end of an arc. The song rec of the day is therefore a cheesy song that served as the ending of the final DBZ arc: "We Were Angels". An ending with a dash of hope.


	11. In zero gravity

**_11._ **

**_In zero gravity_ **

For the longest time, it seemed, Junmyeon simply stared at him, gaping as if struck by lightning, like time had stopped, like he couldn’t believe his eyes. And Yifan wondered what he would say, when the spell finally broke and the explosion happened – when Junmyeon’s fists smashed the ground with a deafening crack:

“What–” he screamed, traits livid, “what the FUCK.”

The next second, he had started walking towards Yifan, the ghost of wild rage burning in his eyes, and Yifan did what he had to do. He took momentum and knocked a punch straight into the younger man’s nose, banging the last bit of consciousness out of him.

Outcry erupted all around him.

“What the actual fuck?!” Lu Han lost his mind, holding his head while Yixing covered his mouth in horror. “What the, you can’t just– what the _fuck?!_ ”

“Tell me off all you want later, right now we need to follow these guys to their planet,” Yifan raised his voice over the tumult, but Baekhyun was out of his mind:

“You killed Junmyeon!”

“How are you even here?” Chanyeol looked like he was about to faint. “I…”

“We will explain that later, Jesus Christ– who has Cleo’s capsules?!”

“I-I do,” Jongin raised his hands pallidly.

“Then get the spaceship out!” Yifan ordered.

As if jolted out of a dream, Jongin finally obeyed and grappled for the capsule box in his jacket. Yifan wanted to sigh in relief. Thank God, he always knew that Jongin was a good kid. When the capsule opened into a perfectly spherical spaceship, the size of a small house and with the neat brand of Capsule Corporation plastered on it, he reached for the door, but was interrupted by Baekhyun again:

“Are you fucking kidding me? You guys just pop out of fucking nowhere and you expect me to go along with you without a single explanation…”

“We don’t have time,” Sehun suddenly stuttered out of the blue, and even Yifan blinked at him in surprise, “he’ll explain later.”

But Kyungsoo, Chanyeol and Baekhyun looked bowled over.

“You knew about this?”

“Can you all get into the spaceship already?” Yifan pulled the catch for the door, which fell down with a soft hissing sound, “Lu Han, lift Junmyeon inside…you guys, grab your things…keep the Dragon Radar.”

“What are you guys doing together?” Chanyeol asked with bewilderment as he paused by the door.

“What’s the use?” Baekhyun didn’t buy it. “They already took the Dragon Balls.”

“Well, shit. I can’t believe you just punched Junmyeon,” Jongdae murmured.

“They don’t have all the Dragon Balls,” Yifan retorted and pulled out the Si Xing Qiu for Baekhyun to see, “we still have this one. I took it while you guys were down.”

After a beat of shock, a new wave of indignation rose at once.

“What the fuck–”

“Do you want to get home or not?!” he hurled, patience running dangerously low, “We’ll lose sight of them!”

Standing next to the door, Chanyeol was the first to obey and duck into the vessel, but not before giving Yifan one last warning glare: “You better explain this once we’re settled down,” he said.

‘Once we’re settled down’ was one big piece of wishful thinking. Yifan tried not to snort. He waited apprehensively for everyone to step in, with Lu Han ensuring that Junmyeon was carefully carried through the air. Yixing dwindled at the end of the queue, and shook his head at him in disapproval when he passed by.

“It was necessary,” Yifan countered flatly, “and you know it.”

Yixing didn’t reply. With a deep breath, Yifan hurriedly closed the door before heading for the controls. The vessel left Yunzabit Heights – and Earth – seconds later.

*****

All terrible things came in threes. The plane ride through the dimensional vortex. The climb up Karin’s tower. And now, flying into space after some alien enemy.

Lu Han was done vomiting the little lunch he’d had into the spaceship’s bathroom, when he’d returned to the main deck, a circular living room of sorts with a sunk-in sitting space. The spacecraft was equipped like a camping car. It had sleeping quarters, in which he’d loaded Junmyeon when they first took off, a giant freezer and a machine to defrost their food, an impressive first aid kit which had been raided as soon as they embarked… At the helm, Yifan, Minseok and Jongdae were fiddling with the controls and trying to adjust their course. Chanyeol stood near them, stomping his foot with an impatient and disgruntled look, a huge compress still stuck to his left cheek. The rest sat in the resting area at the centre of the living, and remained oddly quiet while tending to their wounds. Baekhyun, Sehun, Yixing, Jongin, Kyungsoo, and Tao…Through the windows behind them, infinite space. Lu Han stopped to take in this reality.

This was it. This was the most incongruous sight he’d seen since birth.

“Alright,” Minseok suddenly said, putting down the Dragon Radar, “the spaceship’s system is picking up on the signal of that alien’s ship, and we are at a reasonable enough distance that they shouldn’t take note of us…Like this, we should be able to follow them incognito back to their base.”

He sat down between Sehun and Yixing while the awkward silence lingered on, and the younger man still held onto the left side of his stomach, rubbing it thoughtfully. Then, all of a sudden, Chanyeol’s arms fell to his sides:

“So,” he carped, “maybe now that we’re here, at last, we are going to get a bit of an explanation about how you guys just materialised out of thin air, back there?”

Yixing wallowed in the silence, before finally letting out a sigh:

“Fine. It all started with Junmyeon’s underwear-”

“Don’t say that,” Yifan cut him at once. Minseok scrunched his nose while glancing at Sehun.

“So, apparently, you knew we were coming?”

“Can you guys get grilled first?”

“I’ll say it,” Jongdae raised his hand, discouraged. “This started after your plane disappeared over the Pacific. Yixing, Minseok and I, and everyone else in Seoul thought you had bit the dust and we were put on hiatus, until, well, Yifan and… a dodgy professor friend of his came to us with a theory about parallel universes in which you had apparently been sucked.”

“And you just bought it?” Kyungsoo grumbled, sticking a band-aid on his forehead.

“Uh, actually, yeah we did. So, we gathered around Yifan and his professor friend, who sent us through the same inter-dimensional breach as you, we met with Piggy and Cleo after getting here, and with their help we started tracing your footsteps…using a Dragon Radar, just like you.”

“Hold on. So, you’re telling us…that Yifan is the one who had the first idea?” Baekhyun looked incredulous.

While Tao refused to mutter a word, Yixing’s hands tightened imperceptibly around his knees: “He was the only one believing you weren’t dead at the time. It seemed completely wild and crazy, but none of us could really let the possibility go.”

“How long have you been following us?” Kyungsoo interjected.

“…Around eight weeks.”

“And you knew that but didn’t tell us?” Kyungsoo instantly turned to Sehun, who reeled by reflex:

“Jongin knew too!”

“Thanks for nothing,” the said Jongin glowered.

“So that’s why you two were acting so suspicious these past few days,” Chanyeol scoffed. “What, you thought we’d act weirdly about it if you told us that EXO-M was on the chase?”

“Well, you are acting pretty weirdly right now,” Jongdae rolled his eyes.

“Because you didn’t tell us a thing!”

“To be honest,” Minseok finally interrupted, making all heads turn, “as much as I hate to admit it, Yifan was entirely right. He said that Junmyeon would have resented us coming, and look what happened. Junmyeon was far from pleased to see us just now, and if Yifan hadn’t punched him, it’s obvious we wouldn’t have made it into the spaceship in time.”

Chanyeol put all his weight against the wall behind him and shook his head, wincing a little when that caused his bruise to hit the wall.

“That doesn’t explain to me why you guys came here together.”

“I still wonder about it, to be honest,” Yixing hummed.

Yifan uncrossed his arms:

“Just answer one thing for me,” he said to the EXO-K members, aiming at Sehun and Jongin in particular, “when you guys set out for the Dragon Balls, did Junmyeon mention anything about the kind of wish he’d be making? Anything aside from going back to our own universe?”

The loss of all colour on Sehun and Jongin’s face was enough to tell him what he needed to know.

“I knew it,” Yifan spat.

“So that’s why you came,” Chanyeol said surly, “you came all the way here just to prevent Junmyeon from using the Dragon Balls to bring the three of you back to the group?”

“You don’t find the sheer idea of it outrageous?”

“What I find more outrageous, is that you didn’t even come to our rescue when we were getting beaten by those guys, earlier… Would you have let us die, if they had continued their attack on us, back there?”

As Lu Han watched on, his head was starting to spin.

“Don’t be silly, even if we had popped up before they were gone, we would never have won against them,” Yifan growled, “And they would have found all seven Dragon Balls by now. Is that what you want?”

“Like we’re going to get far with a single Dragon Ball.”

“No. But now, at least, we have time to plan a counterattack.”

“For what?” Jongin murmured sullenly, a piece of bandage between his teeth, “we can’t beat them, even if it’s the twelve of us together now. Didn’t you see the size of that legion? And they could make themselves disintegrate and reintegrate like…like salt!”

“Not to mention, they have weapons we’ve never seen,” Chanyeol expanded with renewed force, “We might have been trained to fight and use our Gleese powers, but we are no match against the sheer number of them.”

“Are you just giving up?”

“Like hell, I am!”

Anger took the better of Lu Han. He saw red and belted out:

“Shut up!” he raged at the whole group, who jumped in fear and opened wide eyes back at him, “you’re all arguing like a bunch of kindergartners. Shut. Up!”

Meek silence welcomed his outburst. Then, Baekhyun waved at him: “Oh, hi, Lu Han hyung”. Rude. He stomped onto the armrest of the sofa, ignoring Kyungsoo’s offended face staring up at him, and hammered:

“Do you know what my reaction was, when you guys disappeared into those stupid ass clouds over the Pacific and took a dream trip to universe seven, all those months ago? Huh? Do you?!”

“Um, you shed a tear for us?”

“I fucking cried my eyes out, you bastards,” Lu Han slammed his palm over his knee, doubling in rage, “I thought you were fucking dead, I had to lock my door, take Woochi out of his attic and sit him on my lap and I haven’t had to do that in twenty fucking years!”

“Woo…chi?” Kyungsoo cocked an eyebrow.

“You guys don’t realise how lucky it is that we’re all alive and here?” Lu Han opened his palms and waved his hands, “when you guys died-”

“They didn’t die,” Jongdae inserted.

“When you guys died, I thought that was it. It was final. The end. And it was scary, alright? It was. I don’t fucking care that we didn’t get to tie all the loose ends when we left the group. I don’t care if you still have remnants of a grudge against Yifan, Tao and me. I know that at the time, we were marketing team spirit as our greatest selling point and the three of us ruined that for you. But right now, I’m just fucking happy that you guys are alive!”

“We don’t have a grudge against you, Lu Han,” Sehun mumbled very quietly with his hands joined together. “Please don’t say that.”

“Then why are we fucking fighting?”

“Look, I’m sorry,” Chanyeol suddenly said, looking tamer for some reason, “I didn’t mean to sound this aggressive, I was just…”

“Just what?”

Chanyeol bit on his lips, while looking at him. At last, his shoulders fell.

“…Nothing.”

“Then seriously, why are we still arguing? Let’s get those Dragon Balls and go home!”

“Okay. I agree, but what do you suggest?” Kyungsoo questioned seriously. “Sooner than later, these guys’ legion will realise they forgot a Dragon Ball and will come after us. How do we counter them?”

“Uhhh, that, uhhh,” Lu Han scratched his chin, “that, I guess we need a team leader to decide what to do.”

Yifan emitted an annoyed tutting sound, before leaving his spot near the controls and heading by himself towards the entrance of the ship, where steps to the upper floor could be lowered down with a mechanical switch.

“Where are you going?” Yixing inquired.

The elder man didn’t bother turning back, simply pressing the button to lower the ladder: “I’m getting some fresh air.”

“There’s none,” Baekhyun chimed, “we’re in outer space.”

Yifan rolled his eyes and left anyway, climbing to the upper level of the spaceship, where the ceiling, a glass dome, allowed them to peer into the immensity of the galaxy. As the latch slid shut behind him, Yixing turned to the others and shrugged a little.

“Oh well. I, for one, kind of enjoy the fact that we get to nag each other again like this.”

“Oh,” Sehun displayed a dejected look, cupping his own cheeks with his hands, “wait until Junmyeon wakes up.”

*****

Junmyeon was vaguely aware that he was dreaming. But the thrashing of his heart was real and his hands itched with a desire he could not place. Before his eyes stood the SM building, as it still looked in early 2008. Less polished glass, less glamorous airs, more administrative impressions. He stood in the cold, chewing gum, his coat feeling heavy on his shoulders. His ankle still throbbed from the sprain he’d done to himself during the last dance lesson. No matter how late he stayed, the routine escaped him, but still, two years seemed too short a time to turn away. Why were all the other trainees so talented? Perhaps, he would just have to change his specialization again.

As he wondered if maybe he should try acting instead, a tall young man arrived into the parking lot, black hair long enough to be tied into a ponytail if he’d tried. He was blowing clouds into the frosty winter air, rubbing his hands to keep himself warm. When he noticed Junmyeon, the stranger walked over and waved.

“Is there a rubbish bin?” he asked in a very broken Korean, quite impassive.

Junmyeon pointed at the metallic trashcan by the door, silently assessing whether this guy was a new trainee, and whether he understood anything about seniority rules in the company. Either way, his interlocutor simply looked at the wastebasket, and then pulled a crushed cola can from out of his coat’s pocket.

“Here goes,” he said in English, and kicked the can towards the bin.

It hit the corner of the container and fell on the ground.

“He’s a clown,” thought Junmyeon.

Yifan only shrugged. At the time, Junmyeon had thought that he was silly. But he was handsome, and perhaps, Junmyeon thought with envy, he would go far because of it.

Many times, he wondered if Yifan regretted coming to South Korea and staying the whole four years it took him to debut. Other times, he wondered if, from the very beginning, and including those two more years they’d lived together, Yifan had calculated that he would leave, and had simply bothered with everything because he knew there was no future, unless he made it big with EXO first. Junmyeon had wanted Yifan to confide in him. Long before Yifan began taking serious medications, long before the feelings became too burdensome to endure, he’d tried to find some middle-ground, again, and again, but Yifan had stared at his attempts to communicate with indifference, arms dangling off the backrest of the dorm’s sofa, inexpressive but for the slight crease in his brow.

“First they made us crawl on all fours – literally,” he had muttered one night, “next, we’re back to growling and acting like we’re back in middle school.”

“High school.”

“Same thing,” the elder man had shrugged.

“Actually, no, I did way harder things in high school – but I understand what you mean.”

“I’m not sure you do, actually,” Yifan refuted, and that was slightly vexing. “It’s simple, though. We just don’t have a say in any of the things we do, Junmyeon.”

The statement had seemed redundant. Of course, they didn’t have a say. But the same challenge plagued any newly debuted idols. And yes, the company had had issues with Yifan in the months after their first album, but everyone had ups and downs, and Junmyeon wanted to help him get through them. If everyone compromised a little, they would make do and survive in this industry. Honestly, how else were they going to succeed – to make their past sacrifices worth something?

“I’m not saying that our concept’s great,” Junmyeon had conceded, “but come on, there’s worse. And you’re the leader of the Chinese sub-unit. You could make an effort to act like you believe in it.”

“Why?” Yifan sneered, “the only ones who seem to believe that being leader of EXO-M stands for something are you and Yixing,” he pondered before adding, “and the director. But that’s because he doesn’t realize that he’s actually monopolizing each and every single meeting we have, and that we’re all acting like obedient little kids in front of him.”

“I know it’s hard to be heard,” Junmyeon pleaded, taking a sip of beer, “but we have to keep trying. You look miserable right now, and if you don’t regain some spirits, the other ones are going to see it and slack off too.”

“ _Slack off_?”

“Not literally, but you know what I mean. If we don’t do everything we can to make it huge now, we’ll get swallowed by the next wave, and neither you nor me want this to happen.”

But Yifan had huffed through his nose and hadn’t bothered to explain what his real opinion was on the matter. He had refused to compromise. Instead, he’d shaken his head and stared away from Junmyeon, out of the window, eluding him as he always did.

“Sometimes, you just have to try the damn shoes on to understand.”

And it was with the same indifference that he had left the group months later, the same refusal to explain his thoughts. On the day itself, when the news dropped, the elder man had not even bothered to pick up Junmyeon’s last call to him. Instead he had been left staring at the picture of the elder man’s face on the screen as the line refused to connect – knowing he couldn’t be given the honour of a leader one last time.

And now that this face was so near again, against all odds, the desire in his fingers burned with an intensity that could not be stopped. They had been itching each time he’d seen posters of Yifan on the web, in fact, each time his eyes had swiped across news reports regarding the elder man’s activities. The desire to punch Yifan in the face...God. He’d been waiting for this opportunity for so long, for so, so long…

…only to be the one getting punched instead.

“Fuck,” Junmyeon yelled as he woke up, and the bed sheets fell over the floor, leaving him sweaty and exposed.

It was a room he had never seen before, with a glass dome as ceiling, and Yifan staring down at him, blocking his view to the galaxy outside. It took two seconds for Junmyeon’s utter confusion to turn to searing fury.

“Wu…” he barked, “Wu Yifan!!”

“You’re in poor shape. Don’t move,” the other man said aloofly.

Junmyeon didn’t listen and swung his fist:

“You’re a dead man!”

At the same time, Yifan moved, as if to knock him back into the mattress. But not this time. Junmyeon ducked and reached for Yifan’s collar, ready to make him see stars.

*****

“Do you think they have beer on this spaceship?” Sehun pondered out loud.

A deafening crash on the upper floor made both him and the others in the resting area jostle out of their seat. Yixing, who was opening a can of soda, suddenly found himself with the entire front of his shirt soaked.

“Well, shit.”

“How dare you?!” Junmyeon’s voice suddenly boomed through the walls.

“How dare I what?! Show my face?” Yifan was countering, equally loud.

Another thud and bang, along with the sound of broken glass reached their ears.

“Why not just ask yourself?!”

The ruckus amplified, then, the latch opened and the ladder fell at once, with Yifan and Junmyeon tumbling down in a mess of limbs. Lu Han threw himself forward to freeze them in their fall, but they seemed to pay no heed to potential injuries and were already grappling for each other’s clothes, pulling one’s ears and decking the other’s jaw until Yixing, Jongdae, and Sehun lunged forward to stop the fight:

“What are you guys doing? Junmyeon, stop, you’re still hurt!”

“Just let me punch him again!”

Yifan already sported a nasty blue bruise around his left eye, and his right sleeve drooped with a tear at the shoulder seam. At last, Jongin teleported himself behind their leader and forcefully hauled him away.

“Let me go!” Junmyeon tempered, still glaring at Yifan while waving his arms: “You – you – you have the guts to show up here after all this time, without so much as a sorry for the trouble… Do you have no shame?!”

“I can say the same thing about you, you fucktard,” Yifan slammed back, making the others grimace, “calling Shenron to patch up your own failed leader’s pride sounds like a good idea to you, does it? Who in their right mind would do such a dick move?!”

“ _You_ , out of all people, dare talk to me about failing as a leader?”

“Guys, calm down,” Jongin choked out, but Junmyeon rebelled even more, spitting in his fury:

“Who ditched their own team members without even consulting them beforehand? Who left the group without even trying to fix things up in a conciliatory way? I cleaned up after you each time you argued with the bosses, I always did my best to talk to them on your behalf…I could have helped you if you just _talked_ to me!”

“Junmyeon,” Tao suddenly stood up, weirdly incensed. “Stop it.”

“Still not an excuse to use Shenron against us without us knowing,” Yifan scorned.

“J-Junmyeon,” Sehun implored with wobbly lips, “stop. Yifan and the others are helping us. They took the Si Xing Qiu while those aliens were busy with us.”

“You did what?” the group leader hurled.

He paused and Jongin loosened his grip, letting him heave, huge beads of sweat still rolling off his forehead.

“You were standing there, back in Yunzabit Heights, saw us getting attacked and didn’t even bother to lend us a hand in the fight?”

“So?” Yifan provoked heatedly.

Yixing elbowed him at once, but the elder man did not budge. At the sight, Junmyeon grew hotter than a volcano:

“So, that’s how it’s always been with you! As long as you can further your own goal, you’d sacrifice some to the wolves and sell them for a bag of rice!”

“That’s rich, coming from the guy who’s about to use Shenron against us to feed his own greed!”

“Guys, Jesus Christ, don’t fight!” Jongdae screamed angrily.

“We have more important things to do,” Minseok agreed, “for God’ sake, we _need_ to put the past behind us right now and get back to our own universe! That’s the only priority!”

“Not when he’s standing right here,” Junmyeon shook his head, “Fuck it. We are opening up all the records today if that’s the last thing we do. I’m getting to the bottom of this.”

“I have nothing more to open up about,” Yifan spat. “That’s not why I came.”

“You’ve never understood how to get things with patience…If you had given it time like I did…”

“No. It’s you who’s never understood what it means to have free will,” Yifan jabbed.

Junmyeon lunged forward, just as the spaceship slanted, shaking with the force of a turbulent explosion, throwing all of them off balance. The ship’s alarm system switched on, plunging the vessel into distressing red. Instantly, the cameras turned on and a holo-screen lit up in the centre of the controls area. The aliens’ elongated ship, with its intimidating silver glow, was facing them on the screen and aiming at them with their cannons. Holding onto the edge of the fridge, Yixing gasped:

“They…they found out about the Dragon Ball!”

But the hostile ship kept firing at them, not letting them a single second to catch their breaths. Amidst the endless rocking of the spacecraft, tossed to and fro, Jongdae finally managed to reach the consoles of the ship, along with Chanyeol and Baekhyun.

“We need to get away!” Lu Han howled.

Another blast on the left side of the ship made them scream and fall to their knees. The alarms kept wailing all around them. Minseok shook his head:

“I don’t think they realised that we have the Si Xing Qiu! They just noticed we were following them and are trying to sink the ship!”

“Then we need to get away even more!” Lu Han yelped.

As Chanyeol bumped into one of the switches, the holo-screen flipped and a message in an unknown language appeared before them, making Jongdae blink at it.

“What the heck is that?” he shouted.

“I don’t know?” Baekhyun shrieked.

They couldn’t decipher it. Simultaneously, the lights in the controls area flashed green, and a hand-mark appeared before their eyes. Jongdae stared at it, then at the flashing, incomprehensible letters, and finally at Chanyeol next to him. He grabbed the younger man’s hand and yanked him forward towards the screen.

“Whoa, what are you doing?”

As soon as Chanyeol’s palm connected with the holographic mark, the world sped up around them. The whole room vanished in a sea of white, the sounds of explosions turned to a cacophonous whirring and the entire ship spun, sucked into a whirlpool. Screaming their lungs out, none of them noticed that the shelling had stopped outside and that the hostile ship had abruptly disappeared. They simply held on for dear life, howling, feeling themselves pulled into absolute nothingness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another chapter that I enjoyed writing - its beginning in particular, it almost wrote itself. Haha. I do have a lot more editing to do in the chapters from here onwards so I might not always update as fast as previously, but I will still aim to keep the same rhythm as before, give or take a few days.


	12. A bittersweet home

**_12._ **

**_A bittersweet home_ **

Remnants of Junmyeon’s anger and Yifan’s outrage still echoed in Jongdae’s head when he opened his eyes, throbbing with pain. Before him, only white stretched ahead. Then it crashed over him: the overflowing sunlight. The unbearable heat.

They seemed to be back on Earth, in some sort of white desert sinking in sunlight. The spaceship fumed on the ground behind them, two of its legs broken and its door dangling, ajar. Jongdae realised that he was sitting on Tao’s back and shot up instantly, but a hand grabbed the hair on his nape and ordered him to freeze.

“Don’t move.”

He reeled in alarm, and the grip on his neck only tightened:

“I said,” the voice became clearer, though he still couldn’t make out its owner, “don’t move!”

Their group lied scattered around the area, waking up slowly. He could see at least five or six people surrounding their team now, faces shielded with protective scarves. Some of them held up pistol-like weapons and electric spears he had never seen before. What on Earth…

“Wait,” Jongdae yelled at last, waving his arms at his aggressor, “w-wait, wh-who are you?”

“I’m the one asking the questions! How did you get your hands on this ship?”

“Let go of him!” Chanyeol growled nearby.

“I asked you a question,” his captor interrogated again and he yelped.

“I…I didn’t hear the question!”

“How did you get your hands on this ship? And who are you?”

“Well, wh-who are _you_?” he barked back, holding his head, as his captor got angrier:

“That’s not how it works!”

“We didn’t steal any spaceship,” he heard Baekhyun squeak, “we borrowed it from a friend!”

“He’s telling the truth,” Chanyeol concurred.

With one hard yank, Jongdae freed himself, but the autonomy was short-lived. As soon as he moved, all weapons turned on him and Kyungsoo got on one knee, shoving his arms forward to cut his path with one heavy throng of sand. The torrent flew straight towards their aggressors, who backed off, but with strangely thrilled exclamations.

Then, the man who’d tried to subdue Jongdae lifted his hand, and the sand froze. 

“That’s…,” Kyungsoo widened his eyes.

“That’s ice-bending!” Lu Han exclaimed.

“Earth-bending!” their aggressors yelped simultaneously.

Jongdae watched haggardly as one of the figures took off their headwear. Underneath, the face of a red-bearded, middle-aged stranger beamed at them, all animosity gone from his eyes. His grin resembled that of an elated child:

“Amazing,” the man said with an excitement that grew by the second, “y-you guys are Gleeselings!”

“S-so?” Lu Han blinked, still staggered.

He crawled to Jongdae’s side to help him up, while whispers scuttled along the troupe that had encircled them. One by one, they pulled their scarfs off, revealing ordinary human faces full of pleasant surprise.

“It means you’re one of us,” someone suddenly said.

With a hitch of hesitation, the young man who had frozen Kyungsoo’s attack unveiled himself, letting Minseok’s juvenile, plump face come into view. The Minseok stood his ground, staring at them with doubts and misgivings all over his familiar features, and Jongdae could not help but gape. Lu Han choked on a broken gurgle: “That’s – that’s Min…?”

At the same moment, their own Minseok let out a groggy sound and sat up straight, confusedly blinking at his surroundings.

“Where are we?” he asked.

Jongdae glanced at the Gleeselings, who now ogled the two Minseoks in thorough terror, and at last, Yixing nudged Lu Han with his elbow:

“Wow, Lu Ge. Now it’s really two Minseoks for the price of one.”

The other man’s fist connected with his ribs the next instant.

*****

“I see. So, this is Planet Gleese,” Yifan droned, leaning out of a truck’s open window, “when the ship got shot down in outer space, it made an emergency landing and ended up plummeting on Planet Gleese.”

The truck rumbled under burning sunrays towards the hotchpotch city of G-13. At the wheel, Minseok’s equivalent, who, as they soon learned, went by the name of Pop, had a rictus. Junmyeon stared outside the window opposite Yifan, a hand under his chin. He was still fuming. 

Pop’s father was one of the men who had held them at spearpoint only moments ago, but now he sat next to his son and beamed at them with genuine joy:

“Yes, it is. Although, nowadays, the planet no longer has the same shine as it used to.”

“Did something happen to it?” Yifan cocked an eyebrow while staring at the never-ending slopes of desert outside.

“You could say that…but are you not aware? Aren’t you Gleeselings too?”

“Well, that’s slightly complicated,” Jongin started hesitantly.

“What I’d like to know,” Pop interrupted with a slightly strained voice, “is why there is a carbon copy of me sitting right here, behind me, even though I don’t have a twin.”

“You mean Minseok?” Yixing blinked, laughing, “well, that, you see, it’s even more complicated.”

“We come from another universe,” Junmyeon dropped.

Jongdae leaned over to nudge him in the ribs: “You could have eased them into it more gently.”

Junmyeon rolled his eyes, while the father blinked.

“What do you mean by another universe?”

“We are actually Earthlings in our own universe,” he said, still grim, “and an accident propelled us into this universe, in which we are Gleeselings instead. Now we have to do our best to get back.”

“Back to Earth?”

“ _And_ to our universe,” Yifan pursed his lips. “The ship that crashed on your planet, we borrowed it from a friend on the Earth that you know. We were using it to chase some bad guys who had stolen things from us. We need those things to go home.”

“And does that have anything to do with why there is a second me sitting in my vehicle?” Pop frowned.

“Um. Kinda.”

“Well, in any case, you’re Gleeselings, so it’s our duty to help you on your way. I’m very sorry for threatening you like that back there,” the father apologized and rubbed his neck. “My name’s Flint Corn. When my friends and I arrived at the sight of the crash and saw your ship, we immediately recognized it as one of ours, but couldn’t guess where it had flown from and what kind of people were at the helm...so we got worried.”

“You recognized it as one of yours?”

“Of course, this ship is a Gleese ship. You didn’t know that?”

“No.”

Yifan glanced at Junmyeon, who scowled back: “We just got it from Cleo, how were we supposed to know where she got it?”

“You lot are a strange bunch,” Flint said with good-natured confusion. “Well, no matter. You’re in luck. My son and I are mechanics. We can help you repair the ship within two days, as soon as we get the spare parts.”

The truck stationed itself in front of an elaborate compound, in the outskirts of the city. A thick layer of metal and clay covered the walls, which seemed made of a sunlight-resistant, glutinous material they had never seen before.

“You can stay here for the time being,” Flint hopped off the truck and cheerfully pushed the doors open, “this is our humble home. It’s only my son and me, but we’ll have enough provisions to sustain you for a couple of days.”

“Wait, wait,” Jongdae suddenly squeezed in with an embarrassed smile, stopping at the front door, “we’re really thankful that you are offering to help us, but…”

“But?”

“The truth is, we just got _shot_ by a hostile ship in outer space, back there, and these guys could come back to _kill_ us any time…”

“Jongdae’s right,” Kyungsoo seconded right away, glowering at the others. “Those white aliens who stole the Dragon Balls from us have a detector on their ship, and you can bet they will track us down with it, even if they haven’t realised right away where we went.”

The others paused, and Chanyeol shook his head:

“What if, when the ship went into emergency mode, we jumped a few solar systems away from where we were, or something of the sort? Depending on the range of their detector, they might not find us on their radar anymore.”

“Then, we would have a different problem,” Yifan snorted, “If their detector is too weak to find us, we would also have trouble finding _them_ , and we have to follow them back to their base, remember. They have six out of seven Dragon Balls with them.”

Kyungsoo clicked his tongue and interrupted again, more sombre than ever:

“You don’t get it. I’m not talking about only ourselves. If these guys come back to this planet for the Dragon Ball, it’s _everyone_ on Gleese who is in danger, not just us. We can’t dwindle here waiting for them to come back.”

Silence welcomed those words, as Flint and Pop exchanged questioning glances. Then, at last, the father inquired with prudence:

“Who are these people following you?”

“To be honest, we have no idea.”

Junmyeon remembered the pallid hands and feet, the punches that rained down without stopping, the speed at which they disappeared and reappeared at will, like their bodies were made of powdered snow. Not to mention the annoying smile on that one soldier’s face, who found it alright to strike poses in the middle of a battle, as if Junmyeon was nothing but dirt to him – what was his name – Lieutenant Suu?

“I remember one of them mentioning a name,” Yixing looked up, “he was saying that a General Satoh would be happy with their work.”

“ _Satoh_?”

Jongin nodded: “Have you heard of him?”

“The name rings a bell,” Pop finally spoke up, “but I don’t know who it is.”

The group became quiet, hesitant and uneasy. At last, Flint clapped his hands and pushed the door open:

“Let’s not torture ourselves over questions that we can’t solve,” he smiled, “come on. You’re all tired and need some rest before anything else, after all.”

“But we can’t put you in danger,” Kyungsoo insisted.

“I think Kyungsoo has a point,” Yixing said hesitantly, “maybe it would be best if you sent us off this planet right away. It would be terrible if they found us here and went after you.”

“Don’t worry too much,” Flint smiled again, “it’s not every day that we get to meet Gleeselings that have already emigrated elsewhere.”

“But…”

“No ‘but’s! Pop and I will go and buy the spare parts from our supplier in the city of G-09 in tomorrow morning. You lot should get some rest.”

They were left alone in a guest room of the house, which by the looks of it, used to be a child’s room back in the days. As the father of the house left to search for blankets, Junmyeon plopped down against the wall, and noticed an old picture on the night desk, depicting a red-headed girl playing with a much younger Flint.

Kyungsoo seemed just as concerned as he was before entering the house:

“We can’t let them endanger themselves like this. We’re just strangers to them.”

“All of this is Yifan’s fault,” Junmyeon snapped.

The elder man looked stunned.

“My fault?”

“If you hadn’t taken the last Dragon Ball with you, or if you had come in earlier to our help…”

“If I hadn’t done what I did, you’d have lost all of them,” Yifan scorned.

“Wow, guys,” Baekhyun extended his arms, “this really isn’t the time to argue between ourselves, yeah? Right now, our priority is to get back home, and we can only do that if we get rid of this ‘Satoh’ together.”

“How do we do that?” Tao scoffed. “We don’t even know who he is.”

“For info, the Dragon Radar doesn’t detect anything,” Jongin said despondently.

“Pop said that the name rang a bell,” Yixing rubbed his tired legs, heaving a weary sigh, “maybe if we ask around in the city, someone will be able to give us some information to serve as lead.”

“But that would imply that we rely on Flint and Pop’s help,” Kyungsoo said, visibly hating the prospect, though Chanyeol cocked an eyebrow at him:

“I don’t think we have many options, here.”

Lu Han scratched his head.

“Um, I guess we can leave as soon as we discover who Satoh is. If we split up around the cities and ask around, it shouldn’t take that long…right?”

“First of all, we need to repair the ship,” Junmyeon sighed, still glum, “without a ship, we have no legs. We can’t go anywhere.”

“So, we’re back to accepting Flint and Pop’s help?” Jongdae winced.

The prospect lingered amongst them. At last, Minseok shrugged:

“I guess we have no choice.”

The door opened again to Pop, who was using a remote control to hold a dozen of fuming cups in mid-air.

“I brought you some snacks. It’s a Gleese delicacy called mesosol.”

“Sounds like medicine,” Sehun commented.

“What?”

“Don’t listen to him. Thanks, Pop” Minseok smacked the younger man on the back of the head, while Pop lowered the mugs into their hands with a frown.

Lu Han folded his arms and nodded in Sehun’s direction:

“Still not the best at basic formalities, I see,” he sniffled, while the other man pouted:

“I think I’m doing okay.”

“Oh, he’s making progress,” Jongdae confirmed, patting their younger member’s shoulder.

For some reason, Pop did not leave the room, lingering near the door with the platter under his arm, seemingly preoccupated by a tenacious thought.

“That person you were talking about…Satoh.”

All turned towards him.

“You have an idea for us to find out who he is?”

“I think so, yes…but it’s not for certain. I think the only method would be for you to visit and ask the grand sage of the planet: Babakul.”

“ _Babakul_?” Lu Han pulled a face.

“Yes. She knows more about the rule of the planets of the universe than anyone else on Gleese, and she’s also our eldest Gleeseling alive. She would be your best shot at finding who you’re looking for.”

The group eyed each other silently. Then, Yifan intervened:

“You think she knows where this Satoh comes from and where we can find him?”

“Not sure. But as I said, as far as I know, she’s your best shot.”

“Babakul,” Jongdae repeated pensively, “why does it sound like we’re going to see a fortune teller?”

“We’ll only know once we see her,” Yifan reflected before suggesting, “alright, how about this, then: this afternoon, the twelve of us set off to meet this Babakul, and ask her everything we can about Satoh. Tomorrow when we return, we can help with the repairs of the ship and leave when it’s ready.”

“Stupid idea,” Junmyeon criticised, “we can’t run the risk of putting Flint’s family in danger by delaying our stay. A few of us should meet Babakul while the others stay here to help.”

“Just so you know, pops and I just need to reroute the main controls and repair the motor engines in the legs. I don’t really see how much help you could be.”

“Alright,” Yifan said, “then, I volunteer to set off this afternoon with Yixing to meet Babakul.”

“Not just the two of you,” Junmyeon opposed right away.

“Why not?”

“If we set off at all, it’s half of us together, and it should be a mix of EXO-K and EXO-M.”

“We don’t need that many people asking her questions,” Yifan objected, “it’d be much more useful for more of us to stay here and repair the ship.”

Reclining against the wall, Baekhyun rubbed his forehead with a groan:

“I’d forgotten how _annoying_ it was, to have two leaders who disagree.”

“I’m not your leader,” Yifan retorted and Junmyeon bristled:

“Yeah, I wonder whose fault _that_ is.”

“EXO-M members should go because we did not participate in the fight against Satoh and so, we have no wounds to heal,” Minseok interposed, “and it’s true that having six of us go is an overkill. Two is enough.”

“Then,” Junmyeon extended a hand firmly, “if Yifan goes, he has to leave the Dragon Ball behind.”

Lu Han, Yixing and Tao jumped up instantaneously.

“What?”

To Junmyeon’s short-lived thrill, the expression on Yifan’s face wavered for the briefest moment. Then, the elder man inquired:

“Why?”

“Because,” Junmyeon stressed, “if Satoh’s legion comes back, they will be going after the Dragon Ball. You and Yixing alone will not be able to defend it. You have no training whatsoever in martial arts or any kind of self-defence, for that matter. Leaving it with EXO-K is the only solution.”

“You weren’t able to defend it when you had six of them, though,” Jongdae remarked, only to get pushed over by Chanyeol.

“I will not let you leave with the Dragon Ball,” Junmyeon insisted, still keeping his palm open, “you can stay here with the rest of the group if you want to keep it. But if you go, leave it behind.”

Yifan hesitated for a second, obviously weighing the implications of his decision. Then, at last and to everyone’s surprise, he retrieved the Dragon Ball and placed it in Junmyeon’s hand without a word. Cold.

Distant.

“But…” Tao started.

“Don’t try anything funny while we’re not here,” Yifan said pointedly.

Junmyeon scoffed, as scathing as possible.

“Talk for yourself.”

Pop rolled his eyes and shook his head:

“You guys are seriously weird.”

“Sorry about that…” Yifan cleared his throat. “So, how do we reach this Babakul?”

Pop used his remote control to open up a phone-sized screen above his palm. “There is a group of druids that take travellers to her every morning at dawn. I can lead you to the pick-up point before leaving with pops to buy the caroin spare parts.”

“Regarding those,” Sehun raised his hand, “I volunteer to go too. I would like to help with something.”

“Then, I’m going too,” Tao said instantly.

Although Sehun threw him a judgmental glance, Pop shrugged. “Alright, then I’ll tell pops we’re changing plans, so that he goes to G-09 with you instead of me. We only have three places in the jet anyways.”

“Fine,” Junmyeon rubbed his eyes and sat back. He didn’t feel the slightest joy or relief. After all the wishing for all twelve of them to be together again, all he could focus on was Yifan’s back turned to him, and the boundless chasm between them.

“So here is the final idea,” he crossed his legs and muttered, “Tomorrow morning, Yixing and Yifan leave to Babakul’s, to figure out how we can find Satoh. At the same time, Sehun and Tao go with Flint to get the spare parts. I’ll go downtown with some of us to get some provisions.”

“And the rest stay here to help with the repairs with Pop from tomorrow onwards. Got it,” Chanyeol exhaled.

“Well, that took some time, but sounds like we have a plan,” Baekhyun blinked.

Jongdae shook his head and took a sip of his drink.

“And yet, I’m more anxious than ever,” he sighed.

*****

Flint’s vehicle was a triangular jet with a pilot’s seat at the front and two passengers’ seats at the back, currently occupied by Sehun and Tao. Their host piloted them through the endless crests of immaculate sand, adeptly navigating the infinite waves of the desert. Afar, at the base of a range of mountain ridges stood a field of houses with strangely simplistic architecture, mixing the rudimentary with advanced technology: the city of G-09.

Sehun felt Tao’s eyes rest on him but did not turn until he heard the much-anticipated question:

“Have you been avoiding me on purpose?”

He kept his voice as level as possible:

“No.”

“You have,” Tao insisted.

“I haven’t.”

At the front, Flint let out a hearty laugh:

“I knew it, a unionised pair’s argument!”

“What does a unionised pair mean?” Sehun perked up.

“You haven’t spoken to me once since we left Earth and you haven’t given me a single opportunity to talk to you,” Tao placed a hand on his shoulder, making him jolt, “Sehun. I _wanted_ to talk to you.”

“Don’t know what there is to say at this point in time,” he countered.

“Sehun!”

“Just leave me alone,” he burst out before he could help it, making the other man jerk, “fuck, it’s just…I wasn’t prepared to see you again in Yunzabit, okay? I don’t feel like talking to you right now.”

“Huh?” Tao looked dumbfounded for a while.

“Seriously, what does a unionised pair mean?” Sehun bent forward towards Flint, who hummed amicably:

“Oh, maybe this is a native Gleese thing and you’ve left for too long to remember, but it’s when people in love formally promise to be with one another until they die.”

“A married couple?!” Sehun gargled.

“Why can’t we talk?” Tao ignored him and continued to tighten his hold on Sehun’s arm, “Sehun, do you know why I came all the way here from our own universe? I came here for you!”

“What do you – fuck,” Sehun blinked furiously, then fired up at once, “stop lying, asshole, you came here to prevent Junmyeon from sending you back to EXO against your will! Besides, you don’t have to play stupid games with me, okay, _I_ was the one who asked Jongin not to tell him –fuck this shit…”

“That’s all Yifan’s priorities,” Tao blew the thought away with a dismissive wave, “my priority was always you! I wanted to see you in person and make sure you were really okay!”

“Why would you do that?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” the other man shouted, looking oddly desperate, “it’s because whenever things were going shitty as hell for me back in Korea, you were a source of comfort for me. Because you were there for me and after leaving, I wanted to keep in touch with you, but you-”

“I …what?” Sehun croaked.

“Well, you just…wouldn’t be the same with me,” the elder man muttered, and Sehun exploded again:

“Well, duh! I hated it when you left – when you _all_ left, you asshole! I didn’t want to show it, but I resented all of it and I didn’t want any of you to leave, but I couldn’t stop any of you because you were doing it for your own good!”

“Well, now it’s getting heated,” Flint murmured to himself.

“Why didn’t you just admit it so we could talk it over?” Tao continued.

Seriously?

Sehun was fuming.

Was he seriously asking that?

“I…I don’t know, because…” What could he even say? “because I didn’t want to rain on your parade when you were finally out doing the things you wanted to do in your career? I couldn’t exactly be a childish spoilsport and whine because I …”

He swallowed hard, and Tao narrowed his eyes, impatient: “Because you what?!”

“Because I missed you!” Sehun yelled, “Jesus, fuck!”

He folded his arms and faced the window again, refusing to look at Tao’s astonished expression. Tao had always sucked at hiding his emotions, and the disarray Sehun could see in his eyes only made it harder to subdue the tingling, humid sensation at the corner of his own. He hated this.

He really, really hated this.

“I missed you too,” Tao suddenly murmured, and the sentence burned. With more vigour, he declared: “I wanted to hang out like we used to and spend time together late at night. I really wanted to see you again.”

“Well, that’s stupid and unrealistic,” Sehun mumbled, “with your stupid schedule and mine, it’d take a miracle for us to be in the same city at the same time, even after we return to our universe.”

A silence from Tao’s side made him turn around. The other man still had a hand on his arm, but he shoved it off without energy, letting it flop onto the armrest of his chair.

It stung to have to say all of this out loud. When he’d talked about this reunion with Jongin back in West City, he hadn’t imagined it’d be this hard. Why had he wanted EXO-M to catch up to them, to start with? Because it was fair? Because he wanted to see Tao and be hurt by him again?

Why did Sehun care?

“We’re um…we’re not a unionised pair, by the way,” he eventually added, for Flint’s benefit.

The Gleeseling only looked at the road ahead, still smiling knowingly.

*****

Later on, during the day, Tao came up to him again while Flint was busy in the shop, negotiating for the spare parts that they needed.

“Did you really ask Jongin not to tell Junmyeon when you became aware of our arrival at Piggy and Cleo’s?” the elder man probed quietly.

They were standing in the middle of a roofed street, in front of the parked airjet, in a spacious avenue made of scrap metals and haphazard iron beams. Tao’s tone seemed oddly diffident – by Tao standards – and so, calmer, Sehun opted not to push his buttons this time.

“I did,” he admitted, “I had a feeling that Junmyeon would flip the switch if he knew about you guys. I wanted to give you a chance.”

He passed a hand over the wing of the jet, and added thoughtfully:

“I can understand what Junmyeon’s going through, though. It’s not really fair to him either; he waited for seven years to debut, was finally made the leader of his group, and boom, three consecutive hits have to topple it in succession. The ‘We Are One’ slogan was always for marketing, but after that, it became an outright lie. He just wants to turn back time.”

The shops of the avenue rumbled with the noise of merchants and customers concluding their daily deals. Some strange, yapping creatures on two legs ran behind people on the street, wagging slimy helices-like tails in the air. Pets? Suddenly, Tao’s shadow came to overlap his own against the aircraft.

“What did _you_ think of it?”

“Think of what?”

“Junmyeon’s wish.”

“Oh,” Sehun lowered his voice, “well, does it matter?”

He turned to face Tao, who simply stared back with disquieting intensity – enough to cool him down instantly and make him blink.

“I think it does,” the elder man suddenly professed. “I want to know.”

His gaze was weirdly penetrating and a chill ran down Sehun’s back, even though he refused to let it show.

“Well,” he mocked, ignoring the confusing feelings swimming in his chest, “you’ll just have to simmer in your curiosity forever, because I’m not telling you until I die.”

Tao’s face instantly reddened, dissolving into familiar, childish infuriation.

“Hey!”

“That’s what traitors get. The Oh Sehun’s state of mind is a privileged palace; not everyone can gain access to its content, least of all those who’ve deserted its emperor.”

“…I see your self-esteem hasn’t changed much, at least.”

“Did you think your leaving the group could have the slightest impact on my _self-esteem_?” he sniffed with disdain and crossed his legs, “you give yourself too much credit.”

“I really wanted to see you, Sehun. I mean it.”

He swallowed the snide remark that he was about to make, and tried to offer a genuine smile:

“Yeah, well,” he looked down, good cheer failing him after all, “and I’m glad you guys came to the seventh universe, I guess.”

“To search for you?”

“To check if we were okay,” Sehun smiled sadly, “I mean, I suppose I can’t take it for granted. Most people would have just assumed we were dead after the plane crash. The fact that you guys looked further into it and that we’re now in this universe together…”

“Of course. What Lu Han said on the spaceship is true,” the elder man simply replied with a slowly widening grin.

Before he could search for the right reply, the elder man’s arms enveloped him in a tight hug, cutting the air from his lungs, and he let out a gurgle, grabbing at nothing and feeling Tao’s face snuggle him, endlessly affectionate and warm.

“I’m glad I got to see you again, even it’s on another planet and in another universe.”

“I’m – guh,” Sehun grimaced in pain, patting the other man’s back with urgency, “Tao, the wound on my midriff…”

“Sorry!” Tao let go at once, checking him with concern, “you…you got hurt during the scuffle against Satoh’s men, didn’t you? I’d forgotten…I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine…”

“Did it open again?”

“I said it’s fine,” Sehun leaned back against the jet, massaging the bandages on his left side, “the stuff on Cleo’s ship was really great. It just hurts…but it’s not much more than a bruise now.”

“It’s a miracle they didn’t kill you with those weapons.”

Sehun glowered at the memory, though his midriff still throbbed. “No,” he grunted, “To be honest, I don’t think they’re particularly strong. Just numerous and tricky to deal with because of their ability to disappear and reappear at will. We were just taken by surprise.”

Tao rolled his eyes, before letting out a familiar giggle.

“Yeah right. Now, you’re just boasting.”

“It’s the truth,” he turned, indignant. “We followed a fucking military regimen led by an Old Lemur, I’ll have you know, and I’m at least three hundred times stronger than you, right now.”

Tao only laughed and pulled him into a hug again. It was a strange thing – that after all this time, Tao could still laugh like that, insensitive to the pain he’d caused; that after all this time, he could still be this warm and affectionate.

It made Sehun unsure again; made him want something he given up a long time ago. But what did he _want_ , in the end? He closed his eyes, prepared to fully appreciate the embrace, even if it has to be the last, when a small giggle and whistle made him jump. They separated, shocked to see a small creature on three legs resembling a frog, rubbing its chin while smiling at them:

“Public displays of affection between a unionised pair! How very sweet.”

“W-we’re not a unionised pair.” Sehun refuted at once.

“Oh, you don’t have to explain yourself. Unionised pairs of any gender are common on Gleese, after all.”

“Are you a Gleeseling?” Tao blinked. “You, uh, look a bit different.”

“I’m a passing merchant,” the frog-like alien said, “I do my business on this planet because the devices that they sell here on Gleese to automatically translate spoken languages are extremely convenient. They fit into your scarf and have an incredibly wide repertory.”

“Is that why Flint and Pop can understand us perfectly and communicate with us?”

The merchant narrowed his eyes at them, still cheerful.

“You didn’t know this? You two look like Gleeselings but you’re not from here, I see.”

“We, uh…we don’t have a very strong connection to our roots,” Sehun muttered.

“I see, I see. That’s why you didn’t know that unionised pairs on Gleese don’t often show public displays of affection either. And did you know that most unionised pairs should wear a glass ring like this on their pinkie finger?” the alien raised a small crystal artefact to the light of the sun. “I’ll sell you one each at only 5,000 GPs per piece.”

“We’re _not_ a unionised pair,” Sehun felt like a broken tape by now, but Tao was successfully distracted:

“It’s very pretty. How much is 5,000 GPs in Chinese RMB?”

“They don’t use RMBs here, you dummy. And we don’t have any Gleese currency with us.”

“Don’t be shy, I can write you a bill and you can pay by instalments,” the frog assured, pressing the ring into Tao’s hands, “here, here, don’t be shy. You can examine it yourself. Hold it against the sunlight. Doesn’t it look beautiful-”

“Hey!” Flint’s voice brutally snapped them back to reality.

The merchant, who saw the Gleeseling arrive with two long pieces of metal wrapped in white cloths, immediately let go of Tao’s hands and scampered off, making the singer drop the ring with a yelp. The artefact shattered on the ground.

“Ah!”

“Don’t worry, leave it,” Flint waved, before examining their surroundings and looking back at them, “more importantly, did he make you sign anything? Did he make you pay?”

“N…No, not yet,” Tao spluttered, bending down to retrieve the pieces, and cutting his finger in the process, “shit, it’s broken.”

“It doesn’t matter, it’s nothing precious. This type of crystal is something you can find at 20 GPs per pack.”

“He tried to sell it to us for 5,000 GPs per ring.”

“That’s how they do business,” Flint smiled, “by tricking visitors from other planets, who don’t know about our customs.”

Sehun threw a sideways glance at Tao, who was now sulking while sucking on his bleeding finger.

“You fell for it face first.”

“Oh, shut up…”

“Well, I’m sorry for leaving you two out here for so long by yourselves. I managed to find the pieces needed for the spaceship, so we can go,” the mechanic nodded at the tail of his jet, where a storage space had been opened for their new acquisitions, “I might just have to ask for some help to load them on there, since caroin is an extremely heavy metal...”

Sehun called the wind, letting it pool beneath the two long shards of metals until they lifted off the ground and wobblingly flew to the trunk of the jet. Flint gave him a surprised look, before exploding into cheers:

“Alright! Let’s go home then! We’ll drop this off with Pop, and head home to fix your hand.”

“Thank you so much for the help,” Tao murmured.

“Don’t thank me. We should hurry back so we can start the work on your spaceship in time.”

As they took their respective seats and Flint turned on the engine, Sehun bent over and inspected Tao’s hand, before emitting another tutting sound:

“Some things never change,” he muttered, making the elder man look up at him, “you see a shiny thing and you’re all over it, without even thinking… How do you survive by yourself in China if you’re still this gullible?”

“I’m not gullible, I just wanted to give you a present,” the other man griped, “besides, if you’re worried about me, you should add me on WeChat and check in on me every so often.”

“That’s not funny.”

“It’s not meant to be a joke,” the elder man stuck out his tongue.

Sehun sat back and did not respond. Soon, Tao turned to the window again, sulking, and fell into comfortable silence.

Perhaps, part of him didn’t know what he truly wanted, and that was why he ran in circles, unable to take a step forward. Perhaps, he still hoped that things would sort themselves out without his input, whether through Tao’s will, the Dragon Balls, or the simple passage of time.

Did he want the group back together? Possibly. Did he want all of them to be happy?

Sehun looked outside the window, conscious of the many feelings he couldn’t face. And yet, the fact that they had made it to Gleese all together, and that Tao could sit there with him – in different realms but in the same space – were already signs that they were progressively getting there, wherever that final destination may be.

*****

Jongdae and Jongin stayed behind to help Pop repair the ship, while Junmyeon and the others delved deeper into G-13 to buy some provisions in view of their upcoming departure. Having no prior experience in repairs, however, the duo soon discovered that their jobs had been limited to simply holding up things or passing tools over to Pop – and even that turned out to be difficult.

“Jongdae, give me the honker-hand.”

“What’s a honker-hand,” Jongdae whispered to Jongin, who shrugged.

“Pop,” the dancer inquired instead, making the young mechanic look down from atop the vessel, “are you sure it’s alright for us to use you and your father’s help without giving anything in return? Somehow it doesn’t feel…”

“Don’t worry about it,” the mechanic sighed as Jongdae passed him a screwdriver-looking tool, “as my dad said, we Gleeselings don’t expect to see anyone of ours come back to this planet. It’s kind of a must that we help any Gleeselings we do see.”

He glanced at the tool in his hand and tossed it right back at Jongdae’s head:

“That’s not a honker-hand.”

“Ow,” he rubbed his head, “But, was it close enough?”

“No, that was a frank-bowler.”

“I really don’t get their naming system,” Jongdae scratched his head and went back to rummage through the box.

Jongin played pensively with the sand at his feet, watching it seep through his fingers. He frowned.

“You know, I was wondering…when we got shot by the aliens out there, how did the ship manage to lock onto this planet from where we were? It seems so far away from Earth, and yet…”

“Easy,” Pop sighed and hopped off his stand to fetch his utensil himself, a large tube with a pump at the end, “your ship has an emergency system that locks onto its home coordinates in case of an attack, no matter how far in the galaxy it is from Gleese. It’s activated by touch and will only respond to its owner’s DNA.”

“Then how did we…” he paused, then gasped, “aaaah!”

“Heh,” Jongdae gave him a snarky grin, “that’s right. When the emergency mode switched on, I smacked Chanyeol’s hand onto the controls.”

“So you mean…”

“Yup. This is likely the ship that Data Bank used to leave Gleese, many years ago, and he left it to Piggy when he died …and then Cleo modified it using Capsule Corp tech.”

“And since Chanyeol is Data Bank’s equivalent in this universe, they have the same DNA and are basically the same person,” Jongin nodded, “so this ship will respond to Chanyeol like he’s its owner.”

“Exactly.”

With a doubtful expression on his face, Pop paused mid-way in his ascension up his stand and puckered his lips.

“You…guys already said that before…about ‘equivalents’…and other universes.”

“Ah… yeah, I guess,” Jongdae laughed without energy, kicking a pebble as he sat down in the sand. He sighed as the sun hit his eyes and made him squint, “that’s why you and our friend Minseok look exactly the same. He’s just your equivalent in our universe.”

“I’m not sure how that works, to be quite honest,” he studied them thoughtfully, “on Gleese, it’s part of our culture to think that everyone is unique. I guess it must be very different from here, in your universe.”

“It’s got an Earth, but not a Gleese,” Jongin smiled sheepishly.

“It doesn’t?”

“No…and over there, we don’t have super advanced spaceships or superpowers, we…we just have other stuff like, um, global warming.”

“‘Global warming’? That sounds kind of nice.”

“Ehh, it really isn’t,” Jongdae chuckled. “But we have our perks too, you know, like, good music, fine food… Jongin and I sing and dance for a living.”

“Singing?”

“Yeah, but I admit, it’s not really about the music,” Jongdae cackled, “more about the holding cosmetic products up, getting pictures taken, and filming videos according to a script, while pretending that we aren’t doing that.”

Pop seemed all the more confused, head tilting as he struggled harder to comprehend – in vain. He rapidly repented and waved dismissively:

“Anyways, let’s drop this topic,” he huffed through his nose, “what’s up with _you_? What’s going on with this planet, like, why is it so hot all the time?” 

The mechanic lowered his arm, waning slightly.

“Well,” he said, “the truth is that Planet Gleese is dying.”

Jongdae and Jongin cooled off immediately, taken aback by the seriousness of the tone.

“…What?”

Pop played with the honker-hand, twirling it once, eyes pensive:

“The planet’s axis is bringing it ever closer to our sun. One day, it will be too hot for us to survive here, and we’ll all have to evacuate. That's why we've been doing some of the work in advance and sending generations over generations of Gleeselings to emigrate… You remember the room we brought you to, when you arrived?” he smiled, “That was my little sister’s room. She was sent to a faraway planet to study and hopefully make a living there.”

Jongdae looked around them, at the endless dunes, the searing sun, and turned back to Pop with a grimace:

“Well, then. Sounds like you have global warming too.”

“Is that what global warming is?”

“Is there really no way to save the planet from destroying itself?” Jongin winced.

“No, but we've accepted it,” the mechanic sighed. “Some things are easier to accept if you understand that they cannot be changed.”

He remained silent for a moment more, but soon hit the spaceship’s surface twice with the honker-hand, before tossing it lightly against Jongdae’s chest:

“I need a muskatong now.”

“…Still have no idea what that looks like,” Jongdae sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case anyone was wondering why my naming keeps being so terrible: I got the inspiration for the Gleeselings' naming system from the canon-typical names that "actually-means-something-but-is-just-ridiculous". The prime example of this is of course the Briefs, with all their children's names being underwear items.  
> As for Gleese, typical Gleese names are composed of a first name and a last name, which, if read together, will make up a random Earth item that actually doesn't mean much to a Gleeseling:  
> Piggy Bank  
> Data Bank  
> Riv(er) Bank  
> Flint Corn  
> Pop Corn
> 
> Also, Sehun was initially wondering if Cleo was called Cleo Patra. Cleo is an Earthling but her name follows a similar pattern, as her last name is Mepilosa and Cleome Pilosa is a species of flower.
> 
> My point is, DBZ canon has the most ridiculous naming systems, and I wanted to stay loyal to that spirit.


	13. The bright road ahead

**_13._ **

**_The bright road ahead_ **

Yifan and Yixing reached the pick-up area, only the thinnest trace of dawn lighting up their path in the empty desert. The druids as Pop described, however, were nowhere in sight where they arrived, a lone patch of arid ground amidst the endless dunes.

“Did we come to the wrong place?” Yixing whispered, his voice crystal clear in the general silence.

Yifan wasn’t sure. For precaution’s sake, he’d kept their copy of the Dragon Radar with him, and the device now weighed against his leg, making him itchy to fiddle with it. He dug into his pockets and didn’t reply.

“You're okay?” Yixing asked, even gentler.

“Of course.”

“You look fidgety. Are you sure you were alright with letting Junmyeon keep watch over the Dragon Ball, after all?”

“It's not like he’ll be able to get his hands on all seven at this rate,” he derided, keeping his hands deep in his pockets, “he’s just trying to assert his authority to soothe his own ego. I can stomach that much.”

For some reason, Yixing seemed to find this highly entertaining.

“What?”

“How generous and mature of you, Mr. Wu Yifan.”

“Oh, come on,” he sighed, shaking his head. “I’m just tired of hearing him howling at me and trying to swing his fist at me every chance he gets. One black eye is enough; if having the Dragon Ball can calm his nerves, let him...”

“The reunion didn’t go quite as well as planned, did it?”

“On the contrary, it went exactly as planned, what did _you_ think was going to happen?” Yifan cocked an eyebrow.

Instead of replying, Yixing laughed, the sound frank and transparent, and slipped his arm into his, naturally knocking into his shoulder.

“He’s hurt, you know.”

“I know. I saw him getting beaten up in front of my eyes,” he mumbled, only to have the other man smile at him.

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

Yifan didn’t respond right away, staring emptily at the landscape ahead. Of course. But it was still not a good excuse to be acting with the shameless selfishness that Junmyeon was showing. After all, Junmyeon could say whatever he wanted about betrayal and being let down – Yifan was a victim too.

 _Too_.

He paused, mulling over the word. Yixing, at last, let out a sigh:

“Try to be more lenient on him, though I know you’re already trying, oh, so very hard.”

“...Can you stop making fun of me?”

“When will I get the opportunity to do that again, once all this is over?” Yixing's eyes were smiling, “just let me have this while I can.”

“Don't be like that, you and I can still meet up when you have activities in China. I'm not that unreachable.”

“Oh, I don't know about that, Mr. Big Shot. You're very busy, and my company says I'm not allowed to associate with you, remember?”

“And you're actually gonna abide by that?” he countered, genuinely surprised.

Yixing didn't reply, keeping their arms interlinked and his eyes on the horizon, a comfortable smile still playing on his lips. Yifan wondered. The Yixing he’d known in the past had many dreams and tears of all types, hot ones, bitter ones, sour ones and sweet… But now he was a peaceful river, with ripples too deep to be seen. Maybe Yixing had always had more potential to excel at this political game than him.

“The day we learnt that you were leaving,” the younger man suddenly remarked off the bat, “Junmyeon didn’t cry at all. But his knees kind of gave way… right in the lobby. He couldn’t speak for five minutes.”

“…How dramatic.”

“Of course, Tao exploded into lots of swearwords and tears – he even sat down on the marble floor to bawl, you know, the way kids do...Lu Han just looked blankly at me and said: ‘Wait, that’s feasible?’”

Yifan snorted against his will while the other man smiled at the memory:

“I tried to comfort Tao, but had to lock myself in the bathroom to cry instead.”

“What are you trying to do, Yixing?”

“I don’t know…Nothing, I just wish it was easier for us to forget and forgive, that’s all,” he sighed, while the wind blew at them. “Why is it so difficult for people to move on?”

Yifan thought seriously about it, for a second.

“Truth be told, I wonder about that too,” he said.

They appeared just then – tall creatures cloaked in black, materialising in thin air, faces hidden by masks shaped like beaks. The air in the desert danced with an eerie breeze, soundless.

Yifan felt Yixing's gaze rest on him, prompting him to clear his throat and carefully repeat the words that Pop had taught him: “We are here to see your leader Babakul.”

The ghostly figures nodded. Without words, they beckoned them with lanky, withered fingers.

“Alright, let's go,” Yixing ushered with quiet determination.

They timidly stepped forward, until the druids silently bid them stop, gangly fingers motioning towards the right. Yixing and Yifan glanced at each other.

“To the right?” he asked to confirm.

The druids motioned soundlessly again. Yixing nudged him sideways obediently, still uncertain. More gestures, just as slow. _To the right_. They wobbled to the right. _To the left_. They stumbled to the left. _Forward_. They complied. _To the left_.

Yifan gritted his teeth: “Which way is it, damn it?”

“Calm down,” Yixing pacified him, tugging at his elbow, “don't be mad at them, we still need them to help us.”

The tall creatures simply waved. _To the left_.

Yifan bit down on the profanities burning on his lips and submitted once more, the murderous intent rising to his throat when the druids started gesturing for them to step backwards.

“Alright,” Yifan scoffed even as he and Yixing obeyed, “if you're just fooling around, I swear, I'll--”

With a snap the sand dunes vanished, giving place to a comfy room lit by rosy lights, bathing in the sickening scent of citrus incense. A tan old woman rested in the lotus position before them, crumpled like a pile of used sheets over a pillow of purple satin, her arms in the air.

“Welcome,” she boomed the moment they turned to her, “you do not have to explain the reason of your presence here today. I can read it on your faces.”

Yifan struggled hard to find his bearings, soon adjusting to the obscurity and focusing on her:

“B-Babakul?” he probed, uncertain.

“Yes...!”

“You...you can read what's on our minds? We're here for help.”

“Yes...I know. You're here because you're troubled...Terribly troubled...”

“That's right,” Yixing affirmed eagerly, “we…we were told you’d be able to have answers to any kind of questions, so...”

Babakul stood up, fiddling with an old machine in the corner of her sombre lair:

“Yes...! You need answers to difficult questions. I understand it very well. Finding happiness in love is a terribly difficult thing for young people...”

Yifan stared.

“We’re not here to find happiness in love.”

“Hmm. No, no, of course you’re not....” the hag continued, unfazed and insistent, “I mean, questions related to wealth must be oh, so nerve-wracking...”

“That’s not what we-”

“You're here for something more complex,” she droned, “I know. That's why the two of you came here by yourselves without your friends. You came from far away too, your clothes show that. You need answers quick, but not about money, love, or health...”

She finally managed to operate the device, which activated to let an unearthly music fill the room.

“I know,” she leered uncannily, unveiling two cavities and a golden tooth, “You and your friends got into some big trouble and you need to know how to get out of it.”

“Uhh...yes......”

She nodded in solemn silence.

“I knew it.”

“You literally guessed that after three shots in the dark,” Yifan declared, exasperated, “and that's the vaguest statement anyone could come up with!”

“Yifan, don't be rude,” Yixing cleared his throat discreetly, before joining his hands together in a conciliatory manner: “We’re sorry for coming here out of the blue, Babakul. The truth is, we heard that you were the oldest Gleeseling alive on the planet, and...”

“Yes...! Indeed, I probably won't last long.”

“No. He just means that _apparently_ , you were the most experienced and knowledgeable person around here,” Yifan muttered, patience stretched to its limits, “though I’m starting to doubt whether that's true.”

Yixing gave him a swift pinch on the back, and flashed a warning glance at him, to which he replied with a shrug and an equally eloquent look of _fuck, she looked for it_. But Babakul swayed in her steps, opening a box of incense sticks and twirling one in the air:

“Of course, of course! It's difficult for laymen to assess the full extent of my powers just by looking at my appearance... You need experienced eyes like mine, to truly observe and see beneath the surface.”

“You just guessed where we came from based on our clothes.”

“My experienced eyes see all!” she asserted in a grandiose tone, royally ignoring the interruption, “I can see the bond linking you two. You're tied by the strife you've overcome together, more so than by your similarities, and that's why you're stuck at the hip in spite of being like night and day.”

Yixing whispered into his ear: “She might be onto something there.”

Yifan turned to him in disbelief, but she declaimed again:

“It only takes me one look to know the type of person you are,” she pointed at him: “In fact, you have the eyes of someone who is burdened by his past and has accepted that he will have to deal with forever strained relationships!”

Yifan opened his mouth to speak, while she dramatized: “Your friend next to you already knows how you feel. He’s forgiven your past mistakes...”

“ _It_ was _not_ a mistake,” he underlined coldly. “And if you think the fact that Yixing reads me like an open book is news to me, you're sorely mistaken.”

“-I don't read you like an open book. Sometimes your ideas fly way over my head.”

“Also,” Yifan rubbed his temples, “I’m not here to talk about me. Why are we talking about me anyways?”

“Oooohhh, don’t be disheartened, young man. I happen to predict a bright road ahead for you, after all the settled strifes...”

“Seriously, we’re getting side-tracked, here. Can’t you just help us?”

She sniffled haughtily at him:

“And how could I help you in any way?”

“We need to know what you know about an alien called Satoh.”

A glint seemed to pass through the Gleeseling’s eyes. For the first time, she shifted closer and became serious:

“What business do you have with him?”

******

Minseok stood in a dusty grocery shop with his hand up Baekhyun’s shirt, the younger man leaning over a counter, wincing and yowling loudly each time he applied the antiseptic gel to his wound.

“Stop, stop, stop,” Baekhyun now begged, even as Minseok rubbed another layer of medicinal gel between his shoulder blades. “Oh my God, Minseok hyung, please, God, have fucking _mercy_!”

“I’m not even applying pressure,” the other man rolled his eyes, giving him a light tap on the shoulder with his other hand. “Stop moving, you need this Gleese gel to heal before we leave the planet and I can't work if you keep wriggling like a worm.”

Junmyeon stood a little further away, watching the scene on one hand, and keeping an eye on Lu Han on the other, who was now inspecting some of the shelves stretching from the ground to the ceiling. Each level was packed with identical metallic cans. At the counter, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo stood side by side, asking the shop owner in succession:

“What is this one?”

“This one is bazoinine, very good for its nutritional values.”

“And the one next to it, with the pink cap?”

“That’s gazozoine, also good for its nutritional values.”

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol stared.

“What’s the difference?”

“Bazoinine contains bazoin, which is great for its nutritional values, and gazozoine contains gazoin, which is great for the same reason.”

The two of them exchanged a long hard look, before Chanyeol shrugged: “Sounds good to me.”

Junmyeon heaved a hefty sigh, as Kyungsoo forked out some currency given to them by Flint: “We’ll have six cans of gazozoine, please.”

“Oh FUCK. It hurts like a biiiiiiiitch...” Baekhyun abruptly whined and hid his face in his arms.

“Don't make me freeze you and your potty mouth to this counter.”

“How did you awaken your powers?” Junmyeon inquired at last, “did you have to physically train like we did? In only a matter of weeks?”

Lu Han left the jar full of mysterious roots that he was studying to turn to him.

“Well, um, Minseok and I had to climb a tower that reached into the stratosphere, so our powers awakened in the process...” he recalled, “The other four…didn’t awaken shit.”

So Yifan was indeed powerless at the moment. Good, Junmyeon thought. The opposite would have been infuriating. Wondering what Yifan’s ability would be if he’d awakened them, he watched Minseok sigh and pat Baekhyun’s head: “Okay, you can go now.”

“Don’t forget to say thank you,” he interjected.

“Ugh...” Baekhyun simply whimpered as he limped away, “thank you, nurse from Hell with the iron hands.”

“I'll really freeze that potty mouth of yours.”

He then beckoned Junmyeon with his hand:

“Kim Junmyeon, you’re next.”

“Huh? Oh…I’ll pass.”

“Cannot do. You were already pretty roughed up after your encounter with Satoh’s men, but then you had to go and make things worse by quarrelling with Yifan. You have absolutely no right to say no to treatment right now.”

Junmyeon shrugged, still unwilling to surrender to his care: “There was something about his face, you see, it just begged to be punched.”

“Oh, come on, now. You’re both better than that.”

“That’s what I keep saying,” Kyungsoo grunted, carrying three gigantic cans in his arms, “but he won’t listen.”

“You didn’t even say that to me once.”

“I was saying it internally.”

Junmyeon ignored him, keeping an eye on the detector on Chanyeol’s belt instead, which hadn’t stopped showing a lonely Dragon Ball – theirs – in spite of all the hours that had passed. Seeing it, Yifan’s disdainful face came back to haunt him again.

“ _Why_ didn't you guys tell us that you came after us?” he finally dropped, unable to hold it in any longer.

Lu Han kept still, and Minseok's hand jerked, only briefly, before picking the tube of gel again. Junmyeon felt ashamed, but he couldn’t help it. Why hadn’t Yifan said anything if he’d guessed that Junmyeon wanted to wish them back to the group? Couldn’t he have given them the chance to talk it out? To let him express himself, and his feelings, to be honest with each other about what had happened, instead of being so endlessly hostile? The thoughts aggravated him the more he subdued them.

Minseok answered while keeping his tone even:

“We weren’t ready, I guess.”

“If you’d said something, we could have searched for the Dragon Balls all together,” Kyungsoo complemented.

“Sorry. Yifan simply said at the time that keeping quiet was the right thing to do,” Lu Han cut in, scratching his head.

“And you just listened to him?” Junmyeon sulked.

“Why are you angry at me, now?” Lu Han blinked. “I just did a freaking inter-dimensional trip to come to you guys, and I’m not even part of the group anymore.”

“But you really came just in case Junmyeon used the second wish to wish you back?” Baekhyun asked guilelessly, blinking. “That’s it?”

Lu Han clamped his mouth shut, eyes wide. Watching him hesitate, Minseok responded in his stead:

“It’s not that straightforward. You know, at the time your plane crashed, only Yifan believed in the theory that you could have landed in another universe, and it wasn’t because of the Dragon Balls at the time. In the beginning, all of us – Lu Han, Tao and Yixing included – followed him to Beijing just to see whether you were alive.”

“…And what’s your point?”

“My point is,” Minseok declared more forcefully this time, “it wasn’t just because of the Dragon Balls. A part of them genuinely cared, I think.”

Something dropped in Junmyeon’s chest.

“Awwwwwww,” Baekhyun cooed at once, and Lu Han’s cheeks combusted:

“Why would you even say that while I’m still here? Fucking hell!”

“Why, are you embarrassed?” Baekhyun fussed with growing amusement, hands on his cheeks, “you caaaaared about us.”

Junmyeon felt like he had been burnt. For some reason, when it was about Lu Han, care seemed possible, like something that Junmyeon could believe in. So why did it feel so displeasant at the same time?

Chanyeol ruminated, but the words, if there were any, never struggled past his lips. Soon, Kyungsoo lugged the last can of gazozoine off the counter and into Baekhyun’s arms, smirking, and brought them back to reality:

“We should take these back to the house quickly. It’s getting late and we shouldn’t stay split up for longer than strictly necessary.”

“Right,” Junmyeon agreed, though he kept his eyes on his own share of groceries. “Let’s return to Flint’s place. Maybe Sehun and Tao have already returned with the spare parts.”

He gave Lu Han a brisk pat on the shoulder as he walked past.

“Sorry about that,” he said and exited the shop, but did not dare to stop any longer. Perhaps, the searing sensation down his chest wasn’t akin to gratefulness. It was closer to guilt.

******

As he lingered at the back of the queue, heading back to Flint’s home, Lu Han pressed against Minseok and hissed between his teeth to him, keeping his voice to a bare murmur:

“That was really embarrassing.”

“Why?” Minseok smiled, “It’s not like I lied to them.”

Their group progressed slowly under the searing sun, wrapped in Gleese scarves and carrying their provisions with care. Lu Han pulled his scarf up over his nose: “I didn’t say that you lied, I said it was fucking embarrassing.”

The elder man laughed. At the front, Chanyeol was goofing around, trying to carry the can of gazozoine on his head and getting punched ruthlessly by Kyungsoo when he failed spectacularly, letting the container roll into the sand. Baekhyun let out a boisterous laugh.

Minseok softened a little at the sight. “I’m sorry if it didn’t come out as nicely as I wanted it to,” he said, his tone falling to an almost inaudible murmur, “it’s just, the conversation was getting sour again, and I didn’t want them to blame you for something you didn’t do.”

“Well, I _did_ do it, I guess. I did come here to stop them from realising that second wish…and I did agree not to say anything when we arrived at Cleo’s and Piggy’s.”

“Still, it’s not really fair to only hammer on this part,” he murmured, voice dimming as he kept his eyes on the others in front of them, “and besides, if they can forgive my own shortcomings, I think they should find it in themselves to forgive you too.”

Lu Han only stared blankly. “What?”

Minseok quickly fell silent again.

At the time Lu Han had left the group, Minseok had realized that he was losing a crutch. Although younger than him by only a month, Lu Han had a magnanimous way of caring for others around him, which made people flock around him and which Minseok had never been able to mimic, despite being the eldest. He had never been able to rally others to his cause, had never possessed the magnetism to make people stay. He was not the ace, and he was not the glue. And yet, in spite of all of this, he had been treated well by everyone and had thus covered his eyes to his own faults, until the day that Lu Han decided to leave, and he realized he had never done enough.

To Minseok, this journey had been a pat on the back, a gentle ‘ _there, you didn’t have to be the glue_ ’ when he had been gnawed by guilt. Just like back then, when they were still in the group, Lu Han, Tao and Yifan had forgiven his limitations. They had not asked him to change. They had not blamed him for the things he lacked. So, if he could help them, he thought, if he could contribute just the slightest to their being forgiven too, he would do anything he can.

As he continued to muse, Baekhyun turned around again.

“By the way, there was something I was always curious about,” he said, making the others look as well, “you guys said you figured out we’d disappeared through an interdimensional breach, but honestly, how did you guys even manage to test that out?”

Minseok wondered if he would manage to make Junmyeon forgive them for forfeiting his entire wardrobe of underwear, too.

******

“It’s almost done,” Pop announced, wiping the sweat on his brow, and Jongdae threw his hands up, exchanging a high-five with Sehun and Jongin, in turn.

“Fuck yeah!”

“You guys are celebrating too quickly, I didn’t say it was done, I said it was _almost_ done.”

“Oh,” Jongin scratched his chin, “and those are two very different things?”

“Quite,” Pop wiped his oily hands on a towel, “to finish repairing your ship, I need to reboot your ship’s emergency thrusters.”

“Okay. How do you do that?” Jongdae folded his arms.

“Well,” the mechanic squatted down, showing them an open space in one of the legs of the spaceship, where loose cables were tied to a shut container, “you see this reserve here? It’s a photon-storage and converter. It traps photons from the sun or starlight, and keeps those photons there until an electrical current is passed through them to convert their energy into fuel-type energy, which in turn propels your ship at a speed fifty times above its usual speed – all this in case of emergency.”

“Cool,” Sehun stated flatly. “I’m lost.”

“Just listen. Photons are great for energy storage, because they can store as much energy as you want without gaining mass. But the thing is, for these photon-storage and converter to accept its usual electrical current, I need an initial shock to ‘wake it up’.”

“Okay,” Jongdae tilted his head, confused, “annnnd how do you do that, usually?”

“Well, my father does it,” the other man huffed, visibly annoyed. “His power is electricity, so it’s easy for him to give the shock we need. But right now, he’s at home, mending your friend’s hand, so…”

“Oh right,” Sehun mused peacefully about it. Out of the blue, Jongdae elbowed him in the ribs.

“How was that, by the way?”

“How was what?”

“The reunion with Tao, of course. How did you find it?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” the elder man smirked, “did you cry?”

“Huh?”

“Did you cry?”

“No.”

“Did you want to?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Hey,” Pop flicked him lightly on the shoulder, “that’s not a way to speak to your elders.”

“I can’t believe,” Sehun shook his head, resentfully looking away while Jongdae cackled, “that I’m being lectured on formalities when I’m not even in Korea.”

“How do you even know that Jongdae’s older?” Jongin asked Pop, who shrugged.

“He looks older.”

“Hey,” Jongdae began, but Sehun interrupted, grabbing him by the shoulders:

“Anyways, if you just need electricity to finish fixing this ship, this guy here would be more than glad to do it for you. It’s his Gleese power. He controls electricity.”

Jongdae spun in turn: “What? It’s not!”

“Yes, it is? Your MAMA power. It was thunder. Thunder, electricity…close enough, right?”

“ _Please_ ,” Jongdae snorted with both hands up, “don’t rope me into your weird magical powers fantasy. I am a normal dude trying to live a normal dude’s life.”

“You haven’t activated your powers until now?”

“Why would I activate shit!” 

“At your age, that’s pretty weird,” Pop said.

He considered his options, studying the inert spaceship for a while before turning back to them and clapping his hands:

“Alright. If you have the latent power to use electricity, that’s good enough. I can use you as a converter to change my own energy into an electric shock by powering it through you. That’ll be enough to jolt the converter into awakening.”

Jongdae let his hands fall to his sides with a discouraged look.

“Why don’t I like the sound of this?”

“You just need to hold this in both hands,” the mechanic held up the cables, “meanwhile, I’ll give you a shock of energy from behind.”

“Wow, wow, wow, wait,” Jongdae backtracked, “I don’t want to be electrocuted or blasted at from behind, nuh uh. No way. Not happening.”

“I’m not actually going to blast you – your body will convert the shock into an electrical one. That’s how Gleese powers work: just converting one type of energy into another. That’s also how this photon-converter changes light into energy.”

“S-still sounds like torture?” he put both hands up in self-defence. “I…I politely refuse.”

But Sehun and Jongin had already grabbed him by the wrist, holding him in place expressionlessly. He reeled:

“What are you two doing?”

“It will only take a second, hyung. We don’t have time to dwindle on these repairs.”

“Are you guys serious?” he screamed, “I could die from this!”

“You’re not going to. Please take these cables into your hands.”

“You two are crazy!”

But the two were already holding him down in the sand, forcing the cables into his hands with an iron grip. He fought in vain, still indignant, even as Pop loomed closer.

“This is discrimination against EXO-M!” he raged one last time.

“That’s not true, besides, there won’t be an EXO-M if we don’t have a spaceship to fight aliens with,” Jongin reasoned painstakingly.

“Actually, this is revenge for laughing about me and Tao,” Sehun added flatly.

Pop placed one hand on his back.

“Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop,” Jongdae chanted, sweating profusely, “I don’t want to-YAAAAAAARGHH!”

The shock ended as fast as it came. The sparks flew, ejecting Sehun and Jongin, and before he could process what had happened, Jongdae was left lying on the ground with a zap, spasming, with stars flying in front of his eyes. Pop filled his field of vision a few seconds later:

“It worked.”

“At what costs,” he croaked back, his fingers still twitching against his will, even as Sehun rose and came up to him. The younger man crouched down next to his face, inspecting the smoke still fizzling out of his hair.

“You still look the same, though,” he paused and tilted his head with a smile, “well, apart from what’s left of your hair.”

“I hate you.”

“Damn, I wish I could take a picture,” the youngest chuckled.

“Is this seriously how you treat your hyungs, now?” Jongdae coughed, “…and you,” he looked at Pop, who looked unimpressed, “you might have Minseok’s face, but you’re ten times more evil.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the mechanic only arched an eyebrow. He tossed his gloves to one side and smirked at him: “In any case, your emergency thrusters work, now, so…you’re welcome.”

*****

“Satoh is a powerful mercenary from space,” Babakul explained gravely, “he once belonged to the troops of an even more fearsome mercenary going by the name of Freeza, until Freeza decided that he was done using him and tried to get rid of him. Satoh actually escaped death and went into hiding until Freeza died.”

The light of a candle flickered, digging deeper wrinkles into her face. Yifan glowered:

“When you say mercenary from space, you mean...”

“People who conquer and sell planets,” she muttered, “that's what Satoh does now. He formed his own legion and is taking over weak planets for monetary gains...they're heavily armed with advanced technology that could rival Gleese's. Right now, he's built his base on Planet Toh, which used to belong to a population of peaceful beings called the Cottons.”

“What happened to the Cottons?” Yixing asked with worry.

“They've been forced to abandon their land. I'm not sure what happened to them...perhaps they all died.”

She muttered under her breath, striking a match and lighting another stinking candle in the corner, while Yifan silently wondered if he should ask her to stop and spare them.

“Anyways, you should stay away from a man like that.”

“Is he that bad?”

“If you make an enemy out of him, you won't make it out in one piece.”

He shrugged: “That's too late, he's already after us.”

“What?!” Babakul instantly spun around, so fast her bones made a frightening cracking sound. “You’re joking!”

Yifan opened his palms as a sign of helplessness:

“We're not joking, he stole something called the Dragon Balls from Planet Earth, and we still have one of them with us, so he's bound to come hunting for us sooner or later....”

“And you're here on Gleese?” she yelled, all mysticality discarded.

“Uh...yes?”

“Dear Almighty!”

“Why?”

“What if he comes here?”

“Well, that's the big trouble we wanted to get out of to start with-”

“Dear Almighty!”

“I thought you read this off our faces already?” Yifan arched an eyebrow, and Yixing elbowed him again. She stomped:

“How on Gleese was I supposed to know you were stupid enough to piss off Satoh, of all people? You youngsters have lost your minds! If you meet him, you will not make it out alive!”

Yifan simply shrugged.

“If he’s not coming to us, we’ll have to go to him.”

“Well, not on Gleese, you won’t,” she bellowed, “Dear Almighty! You need to get him away from this planet right this instant!”

“Yes, ma'am!” Yixing yelped, but Yifan snapped:

“You just said we wouldn't make it out alive if we met him!”

“That's none of my business, you need to get him away from here!”

“We need to find our friends first!”

“Step backwards,” she hurled, waving furiously, “that spot over there will take you to where the druids are – they will teleport you back to your friends.”

They scurried towards the said location, but she abruptly held them back:

“No, wait! You won't hold a candle against him the way you are! Don't go yet!”

“Can you make up your mind?” Yifan stammered but she flailed:

“Give me your hands!”

They extended their arms and she clasped each of one of their palms, squeezing it tightly between her bony fingers.

“My ability is the power to awaken the maximum potential of all Gleeselings. I'll squeeze out every last drop of power you have like a sponge.”

Yifan opened his mouth to speak, but a strong wave shook him from within at the same time, vibrating like a string within him. Something surged, and he heard Yixing gasp beside him.

“Even like this, you're going to go through Hell,” she announced categorically as she finally let go of them. “But go!”

Yifan didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Yixing by the shoulder, and let himself be teleported back to the druids.


	14. Down a few pegs

_**14.** _

**_Down a few pegs_ **

Junmyeon never saw the attack coming. One second, Minseok and Lu Han were desperately explaining how it wasn’t _their_ fault that fucking _Yifan_ had offered his Hugo Boss underwear to a crazy old Professor in Beijing in the name of science; the next second, he was catapulted face first into the nearest dunes, his cans of gazozoine spilling in the process. Baekhyun let out a frightened yelp.

“What the-”

The burning sand in his ears muffled everything else. He pulled his face out, hacking and shaking the grains out of his hair, and only then did he notice the slender silhouettes sprouting out of the sand like plants, with stainless skin and shining armours. Satoh’s legion. Three of them, each wearing a variant of the same armour.

 _Only_ three of them.

“Uhhhhhh,” he blinked.

“Where’s the rest?” Baekhyun completed for him.

The three short figures, far from bothered, only formed a star shape with their arms before trumpeting dramatically:

“We are Satoh’s Elite Force: Suu – Gaa – Ru! We are here to take the last Dragon Ball back from you!”

Junmyeon reluctantly accepted Minseok’s help to stand up, as the wind sifted through the hills. The first of Satoh’s guards had shoulder pads, the second a helmet that covered his eyes like a visor, and the last one a cap for his tail; but other than that, they looked almost identical, with equally slanted golden eyes and disformed teeth. Chanyeol glanced down at the Dragon Radar, but the screen was as peaceful as usual, indicating only the Si Xing Qiu in their possession.

“Did you leave the Dragon Balls on your planet before coming here?” he interrogated.

“Indeed,” Gaa tutted mockingly, “why, for a race as underdeveloped as the Earth, you do have some common sense.”

Suu extended one hand: “It’s exactly as you suspect. One, you have no bargaining chip because the majority of the Dragon Balls are completely out of your reach, and two, we are unfathomably more powerful than you. If you’ve figured out where you stand, just hand us the Dragon Ball without any resistance.”

“Where’s your planet?”

“As if we’d reply to that,” Ru scoffed.

“But only three of you came here and the rest of you are back on your planet,” Kyungsoo probed, squinting, “is that correct…?”

“Does that bother you?”

“So you mean…” Baekhyun confirmed, “there _are_ only three of you.”

“We’re Satoh’s Elite Force,” the aliens snorted, “Three of us are more than enough to pulverize you if we wanted to!”

Kyungsoo ignored them and changed his stance.

“If there are really only three of them…I think we can take them down.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol were already following his example, and only Lu Han and Minseok looked utterly unconvinced.

“Are you kidding?”

But Junmyeon agreed. If they captured those three, they could interrogate them until they admitted the location of their base. They could infiltrate Satoh’s place and steal the Dragon Balls from him. They could turn the tables around.

He steeled himself, even as Suu exploded with laughter.

“You want to beat us?”

“You don’t think we can?”

“I’m afraid you didn’t hear us very clearly,” they sneered, “We are Satoh’s Elite Force!”

“Then, why don’t you try attacking us today, elite force?” Kyungsoo provoked, taking one step back, “with that vanishing act of yours.”

He did not, apparently, have the patience to wait for the attack to come. Appearing right in front of Suu’s face – he smacked the alien’s head with his elbow, who crashed, his two companions too shocked to move. Chanyeol and Baekhyun took the chance to pound them into the hillside, splashing sand all around them.

“What the-” Suu muttered, but Junmyeon pounced too, sending him back down with his knee. Though he disintegrated and reformed, the creature received another strike of the elbow, even as he tried to punch Chanyeol from behind.

They fell to their knees, coughing and fighting to catch their breaths.

“What?” Minseok blurted out, completely bowled over, “what the?”

Junmyeon didn’t let them have a break. He kicked them back to Baekhyun, who elbowed them back into the sand. Last time, Satoh’s men had the upper hand, but _last time_ , Junmyeon thought, they were taken by surprise.

Now that they knew exactly what to expect, predicting the enemy’s moves became possible. There were only three assailants to focus on. The movements of the air, the direction in which each of them looked and tried to escape… He thrusted one of the three away with his palm, while Kyungsoo opened the grounds beneath them. The sand swarmed and violently hurled the enemies into the sky.

Junmyeon felt the blood rush to his head as he watched them fall back down. If they could capture these three so-called Elite Force, subdue them and hold them as hostages, perhaps…just perhaps, they still had a chance to find the rest of the Dragon Balls.

The bodies plummeted to the ground with choked noises. Jongdae, Jongin, Sehun and Pop appeared over the hillside, running towards them with bated breath. They looked panicked.

“Guys…! Guys, it’s an emergency!”

“Later!” Junmyeon still kept an eye on Ru and Suu, “we’re a little busy right now.”

“No, you don’t understand, it’s…! Tao and Flint, they…”

“What’s the matter?” Minseok ogled them.

“They disappeared!”

The others paused, while Suu, Gaa and Ru struggled to get up. Lu Han sighed without gusto:

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

“And your bad feeling is right!” Gaa snapped his fingers.

The spaceship which emerged from underground controlled two glass jars in suspension, in which Tao and Flint slept, both unconscious. The younger man had a half-coagulated gash on his forehead, like he had been knocked out with a hard object, and now drooled, his cheek mushed against the glass. At the sight, Sehun let out a muffled sound, and Lu Han rubbed both hands over his face:

“I fucking _knew_ it…”

The three aliens now regrouped, striking brasher poses and chanting louder than ever:

“We are Satoh’s Elite Force, Suu – Gaa – Ru! Give us the Dragon Ball at once, or these hostages get nuked!”

“I officially hate these guys,” Kyungsoo stated.

“How did you even find them…?” Junmyeon gaped, growing pale as he stared at Tao, “y-you shouldn’t have known that they were with us.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Ru sniggered, “When we checked the Dragon Ball’s location, shortly before landing on this planet, the radar on our ship locked onto a house’s location, and for a very long time… meaning that whoever lived there must have been in cahoots with your little gang.”

“Never thought we’d actually have to use these precautions,” Gaa spat, “now, let’s take it from the top. Hand over the Dragon Ball.”

“J…Junmyeon,” Chanyeol turned, searching his eyes for some kind of solution.

But Junmyeon felt even more desperate than he did.

“If you don’t, your friends will die a horrible death.”

“Junmyeon…!” Sehun pleaded.

He was out of options.

******

Yifan and Yixing materialised in the middle of endless mounds of sand, seemingly further from G-13 than they’d ever been. By now, Yifan had already given up completely on the hope of a reliable transport system coming from the druids, but the frustration still made him see red:

“Do you not have _any_ control at all over your teleportation techniques?!”

“Shhh, calm down, Yifan,” Yixing quickly pacified, patting his shoulder while the druid recoiled, “let’s take it step by step and look at the Dragon Radar to see where the others are.”

Before Yifan could give it a glance, the horizon tore into two and a blast of sand flared up in the distance. Yixing blinked at it, bamboozled, unable to make out what had happened.

“What was that?”

He waited for Yifan to direct the Radar towards the source of the commotion. Their current location was still kilometres away from Flint’s house, apparently, but the arrows of the device indicated that their Dragon Ball was within sight, right where the explosion had happened.

“That stream of sand,” Yixing frowned and held onto his arm, “it was Kyungsoo’s ability, right? Do you think…”

“Yes.”

The truth left a bitter taste on his tongue.

“They’re here. Satoh’s here.”

Yixing opened his mouth to speak, but Yifan had already turned to the druid, yanking him by the collar:

“Can you teleport us there? Now?”

The creature jumped, before shaking his head timidly and refusing to budge. Yifan was about to lose his temper again, when Yixing yanked his sleeve:

“I can fly. You grab onto me, they’re not that far. Leave it to me.”

“No,” Yifan grabbed him by the waist.

Before Yixing could process what was happening, Yifan had lifted him into his arms and taken off, soaring at jet speed across the desert. In a matter of seconds, the druid had been left behind and Yixing locked his arms around his neck with a scream:

“What the hell!”

“Hang on tight,” Yifan grunted for all answer.

Yixing complied and squeezed his eyes shut, the dry air and splashing sand cutting their cheeks. He then looked up and asked, in a curious tone:

“…Babakul?”

“Yes, most likely.”

“So, your Gleese ability is flight? I guess that’s pretty convenient.”

Yifan didn’t respond.

******

For the first time since they’d come to the seventh universe, Baekhyun realized that they were at a turning point.

He’d taken it all in stride. From the very first day, when they’d met Piggy, until this very moment, he’d been easy-going, trusting that things would work in their favour at the end of the day, never feeling like they were truly in danger of death… 

Now for the first time, Baekhyun realized, the situation was a little more dire than he had ever expected it to be. Perhaps being optimistic and easy-going wasn’t going to be enough. Perhaps, he was just a tiny bit scared.

“Hey,” Suu warned, eyes narrowing, “if you don’t give usthe Dragon Ball in the next five seconds, we’ll slice the first jar and its contents into small pieces.”

Minseok and Lu Han stared at Junmyeon. Sehun looked panicked:

“Junmyeon,” he begged. “Please.”

But their leader just couldn’t move. Perhaps, he was scared as well. Perhaps this was it. Or perhaps there would be other solutions, even if they lost all of the Dragon Balls for now – and he simply didn’t see them. Baekhyun racked his brain, but no matter how hard he tried, nothing creative came to mind. Nothing positive. He had nothing.

Well, nothing except the solar flare.

Suu raised a hand with four fingers and began counting.

“One…”

Baekhyun made up his mind.

“Two…”

It had gone well in Yamanbo and Yamanba’s cave. It had gone well in West City. In the short moment of chaos after blinding Suu, Gaa and Ru, he would save Flint and Tao.

“Three…”

Baekhyun tried to catch Junmyeon’s attention, but as their gaze met, the elder man only looked at him haggardly, not understanding his silent signals.

“Four.”

At wit’s end, Junmyeon took the Dragon Ball out of his pouch.

“Here, you can have it. Just let our friends go.”

“Oh, cool,” Suu smirked. “I didn’t even have to change hands.”

Baekhyun jumped out and let the blinding light submerge the place. The solar flare hit everyone at once, sparing neither Kyungsoo nor Chanyeol, who hid themselves with yelps of surprise, and making Junmyeon drop the Dragon Ball into the sand:

“Shit!”

“Sorry!” Baekhyun propelled himself into the air, “I just have to give it one last shot.”

He kicked Flint’s jar, which came crashing down into the sand, the Gleeseling falling out with a strangled cough. As he switched to Tao’s confines, he froze when he saw Gaa materialize in front of him, blocking the way.

“Good trick,” the alien mocked.

Baekhyun didn’t find the time to react; the fist in his stomach knocked all breath out from him, blurring the world around him.

“But my visor is better,” he heard as his surroundings faded to black.

*******

“What happened?!”

Yixing hopped away from Yifan’s iron clutch, and hurried to Lu Han’s side, helping him up, while Yifan only stared at the remains of the disaster. In the sand, everyone groaned and rubbed their eyes, but Junmyeon alone seemed completely soulless, hands limp in his lap.

Baekhyun and Tao were nowhere in sight.

“Did we arrive too late?” Yifan interrogated, stepping up to him. “Where’s the Dragon Ball?”

“They took it,” Minseok elucidated for him.

Yifan stopped. He looked around, taking in the infinitude of the desert around them, with no spaceship in sight, then examined the Dragon Radar. The display was entirely quiet.

“And…” Chanyeol admitted after a while, “they also took Baekhyun and Tao.”

“What?”

Yixing looked shocked. Yifan watched Junmyeon’s forlorn silhouette again, the younger man still refusing to look at him and unable to utter a word, as if frozen in denial. At the sight, a tinge of pity awoke in him, but he forced it into submission.

Jongdae sat up and emitted a loud grunt of annoyance.

“We better chase after them,” he muttered, “the spaceship is working thanks to Pop, so maybe if we’re fast enough...we can catch up.”

“Finding them won’t be a problem,” Yifan declared.

“What?”

“Your hair,” Yixing inquired, touching the frizzy mass with sympathy, “was that Satoh’s men too?”

Jongdae stared at him.

“…No.”

“Oh.”

“We have enough information on Satoh to know who he is and where to find him,” Yifan interrupted, “Jongdae’s right. If we are fast enough, we still have a chance to save Baek and Tao. Let’s get moving.”

“You look strangely calm,” Kyungsoo commented after a moment.

“Panicking will do us little good now,” Yifan retorted, glancing at Pop, “will you and your father be alright?”

“We will,” Flint assured, still laying on the ground with his son holding his head up, “I am a bit knocked out, but nothing broken…Don’t worry. You should go as quickly as you can.”

“Thank you for your help…and sorry for the trouble.”

“Don’t forget to use the emergency boosters,” Pop added, his voice still shaking. “It might allow you to gain some margin of advance.”

“We won’t forget,” Jongin shook his head. “T-thanks.”

Behind him, Sehun looked worse than ever, lips trembling and all colors washed off his face. As he walked past him, Yifan passed a hand over the younger man’s hair:

“Don’t cry. It’s not over yet.”

Sehun still remained completely silent, with his chin tucked and his teeth digging in his lower lip. At last, Junmyeon wobbled as he stood up and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry,” he sighed.

Everyone looked at him in silence. But Yifan’s expression did not change. Nor did he ask the reason for the apology. In fact, he realised to his own surprise, he wasn’t even angry at Junmyeon for losing the Dragon Ball.

“We don’t have time for this,” he said instead, “let’s move.”

Junmyeon did not try to fight back. For the first time since they reunited, the anger seemed to have left his body as well.

******

“So where are we going?” Minseok questioned once they’d taken off in the Data’s spaceship, setting course for coordinates that Jongdae had inserted without understanding.

In the seating area, Junmyeon waited with some of the others, hands folded on his lap.

“It’s a planet called Toh,” Yifan explained at last, “according to Babakul, it used to be inhabited by a peaceful population called the Cottons. But now, it’s been taken over as Satoh’s base. The guy is basically a bastard who conquers and sells planets for profit. Apparently, he’s pretty scary.”

“Is he that strong?” Chanyeol leaned forward with a slight frown, “when we confronted Satoh’s Elite Force, earlier on, we realised we could have the upper hand in a direct, prepared fight. If they hadn’t taken hostages, we would have won.”

“That’s interesting,” Yifan said, but failed to elaborate.

Yixing folded his arms and looked at the others: “You said that Baek got abducted after he blinded you by accident with the solar flare?”

“Yeah…he was too quick with it. None of us saw it coming, and I think for some reason, Satoh’s men were immune to it, so they got him instead.”

“It’s my fault,” Junmyeon suddenly confessed, “he tried to make signs to me, but I was panicking. I didn’t understand…”

The others stared at him, a little embarrassed.

“Never mind that,” Lu Han waved, rubbing his neck. “I wonder why they felt the need to take hostages with them this time?”

“Maybe it’s for the incantation,” Yifan answered.

The others looked up at him. Jongin snapped his fingers.

“Right! Without the right incantation, Shenron won’t appear even if you gather the seven Dragon Balls. Maybe they realised this and they took some prisoners as guarantee, since we’re from Earth and the Dragon Balls too…”

“So you mean we still have a chance, as long as Baek and Tao keep their mouths shut?” Kyungsoo cocked an eyebrow.

The others pondered for a bit.

“To be honest,” Yixing stated, “I have to admit, after travelling with him, that Tao’s knowledge about Dragon Balls is, surprisingly, in the negatives.”

“So, he won’t even _know_ the incantation.”

“No, he won’t,” Yifan shook his head, “Baekhyun is another story, though.”

“Baek might have the notion down,” Chanyeol scratched his cheek, “but he’s more of a Naruto person too.”

“So he might not know it either. Isn’t that great for us?” Lu Han asked, legs crossed on the sofa.

“Actually, no,” Kyungsoo interrupted, calm in spite of the grim expression on his face, “if they don’t know a thing, they will just get killed because they’re useless. And that brings us back to square zero.”

The spaceship grew quiet, taking in the glumness of this statement. Lu Han grimaced.

“Let’s take this positively, shall we?”

“How positively?”

“Basically, as long as Satoh really doesn’t know the incantation and Baek and Tao are good at _pretending_ to know, we still have a slim chance,” Yifan declared once and for all, putting one finger up, “once we get there, our first priority will be to land on the planet without injuries. Our second priority will be to infiltrate, save the two others, and take the Dragon Balls back. After that, we need to focus on running away from the planet.”

Yixing smiled brightly.

“That sounds feasible!”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes: “You’re just saying that to make this sound less crazily unrealistic than it already is.”

“Everything starts with belief. If we believe in ourselves, we will be prepared.”

“Well, I damn well hope you’re prepared,” Jongdae suddenly raised his voice, “cause, um, Planet Toh is in view.”

They lifted their heads, looking at the front deck’s display. A ghostly white planet had taken shape before their vessel, surrounded by fog resembling whipped cream. Two seconds later, a spacecraft came flying at them, firing lasers.

“And it’s attacking – oh shoot!” Yixing exclaimed, throwing himself to the ground.

Jongdae pulled at the wheel, veering sharply to the right. They all fell over, sliding towards the wall in a pile of jumbled limbs. Lu Han screamed as he hit his head: “Careful!”

But a hologram had activated on the side of the main screen, and Gaa’s face now leered at them.

“You came faster than we expected! But this is where it ends!”

“He’s the one piloting the pod,” Lu Han smashed his fist against the ground, “obliterate him!!”

“Easy to say, when we don’t actually have any artillery,” Jongdae dropped.

They swerved again to avoid an income of ammunition from Gaa’s side and took a loop through space. More enemy pods were joining the first. Jongdae forcefully pushed them to take a tight turn, weaving through the lasers. A direct hit on the side of the ship made the entire room shake. Minseok fell to his knees.

“Shit,” Jongdae scratched his head, “I guess there’s only that.”

“The emergency boosters?” Jongin asked.

“What’s that?”

“The emergency boosters,” Jongdae confirmed. He flipped a couple of switches upwards, pulled out a keyboard, and entered some numbers. The screen lit up with a hand-mark on it. In front of them, Gaa’s pod was approaching. Fast.

“Do you need my hand again?” Chanyeol pointed at the screen, and Jongdae shook his head:

“Nuh uh.”

He smacked his palm against the mark, and the boost was immediate. Their spaceship shot ahead like a fireball, colliding head first with Gaa’s pod, which exploded with a loud boom – and continued zooming towards the planet, all the way through its atmosphere to its surface.

“Yes, baby!” Jongdae guffawed as the speed yanked them backwards, “this is worth getting electrocuted for!”

“I really think Jongdae made this trip just for the thrill,” Minseok whispered to Lu Han who shook his head.


End file.
